Seventeen Going on Eighteen
by Kavi Leighanna
Summary: Just when you think everything is good, life throws in a wrench you weren't prepared for. And that's exactly how Leo and Piper feel. Piper/Leo
1. Why She's Silent

_**So...**_

_**I got bored waiting for chapter 3 to write itself, and since I've at least gotten it started, I figure that's fair game for ****posting this, don't you?**_

**_As for time of story, even though to be with cannon it should be in the 70s-ish, we're going to put it in present time with cell phones and e-mail, just to make life fun. _**

* * *

Piper sat, looking out her bedroom window, her mind no where close to the present she was currently living in. If she was, she would be racing around her room, trying to make sure everything was ready for her first day, not just as a senior, but as student body president. Instead, her mind was on a month ago, when Leo had told her he would be staying in San Francisco as opposed to heading off to the Ivey Leagues he'd been accepted to.

-- _Flashback_ --

_"I'm staying in San Francisco," Leo announced over one of their coffee dates in the late July heat. They'd done it over the summer to ensure they stayed in touch and ensure that they'd always have something to connect them. _

_"What do you mean you're staying in San Francisco? I thought you were going to go to Georgetown or Stanford, or Princeton," Piper replied in surprise._

_Leo shrugged. "SFU has a great pre-med program. Plus, I'll get to do all of the networking I need to for med school right here."_

_It still didn't make sense. "You were accepted to some schools kids only dream of being accepted to and you want to stay here?"_

_Leo shot her an odd look. "Is there something wrong with me staying?"_

_Piper sighed. It wasn't the first time they'd discussed his post-secondary education. He'd been so excited to get his acceptance letters and she'd been more than happy for him – if a little upset to remember that chances were he'd been hundreds if not thousands of miles away in the coming year – and proud of him. "Of course not, but you're giving up an opportunity people would kill for."_

_For his part, Leo had hoped Piper would take his side. She'd always supported him, well, ever since they'd bonded so securely though his last year of high school, and he'd crossed his fingers that the support he'd come to look for from her, would come in this situation too. "There's a lot of pros to me staying here."_

_"Cons too," she pointed out. "Think of the connections you could make at those Ivey Leagues. Think of the people who would come talk to your classes as guest lecturers or the drive and ambition that would come with one of those schools."_

_"SFU's no slouch for pre-med," Leo contradicted. "I'll make the same connections probably get the same guest lectures and plus, this way I get to stay close to UCSF. I can meet all of my potential grad-school professors… Plus, Nick's here, you're here… I don't see as many cons to staying as I do pros."_

_"You can't make a choice based on your friends," Piper scolded. "You need to go to some far away school, get out of San Francisco. Heck, Leo, you've got scholarships no matter where you go, why not take advantage and go somewhere with an impeccable reputation."_

_Leo looked at Piper carefully. "Do you want me to go?"_

_"What?" She hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn. _

_"Do you want me to leave? Do you want me out of San Francisco?"_

_"How can you even ask that!?"__ Piper exclaimed. "Of course not, but I want what's best for you."_

_"And I don't know what's best for me?"_

_Piper was getting exasperated. "Of course you do, I just think that you're looking at the wrong factors."_

_"Because I'm looking outside the rational factors?__ Piper," he reached out and grasped one of her hands. His inklings of feelings towards her had blossomed and grown since he'd met her. In the beginning, she was intriguing. By prom, she was interesting and beautiful and now that he spent so much time with her, she was even more than that. _

_"Friends are just as important to me as my education is. I don't want to be so far away from you."_

_"You're letting emotion come into this, you're not looking at the pros and cons."_

_Leo raised an eyebrow in the way that he knew infuriated her. "Because people aren't pros and cons?"_

_"You're not listening to me!"_

_Leo let go of her hand, leaning back in his chair at the outburst. Piper was really working herself up over all of this and he had no idea why it mattered so much. "What's going on, Pip? Why is this such an issue with us?"_

_If Piper had been calmer she probably would have been able to give him a rational explanation as to why she wanted him to go. She would have been able to tell him that his success mattered to her and the only way he was going to get that success was if he went away to the schools that bred it. But that wasn't what came out of her mouth. "Because a few years down the line, when you're applying to medical school, I don't want you to look back on this and say 'I wish I hadn't chosen her over my future'."_

_He knew his stunned look mirrored hers and before he could stop her, before he could even recover, she was up and out of her seat, fleeing towards the exit of the shop and into the summer heat. By the time he got his feet back under him, by the time his brain had processed that she worried he would resent her for his decision – and by extension that Nick hadn't come up since he'd mentioned him – he knew she was long gone._

-- _End Flashback_ --

She hadn't answered any of his calls, any of his e-mails and had made sure Phoebe, Prue and Grams told him she wasn't home when he actually showed up at her door. She hadn't talked to Leo in over a month and it had hit her that morning that he could have been a huge help to her going into the fall semester.

It still bothered her that he hadn't changed his mind. Leo had accepted SFU and that's where he would be going to school in less than a week. Piper had heard through Nick that he and Leo were going to be can-mates, sharing a bathroom in between their bedrooms. The worst part was, even more so since Nick hadn't denied it when she'd asked, she knew, no matter what had happened between them, no matter how angry she was that he was throwing away his future, Piper had been a factor in Leo's decision to stay in San Francisco.

And she would never be comfortable with that.

* * *

**_And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! The first chapter of the sequel to Sixteen Going on Seventeen! Let me know what you think!_**


	2. The New Guy

Chapter 2

Leila sighed as she searched the grounds for any sign of her best friend. Piper had been virtually incommunicado for the last week and if she was honest with herself, Leila was worried. Finally she spotted the brunette making her way towards the front door of the school. She raced up to her and linked arms with her, making Piper jump. "There you are! I have been calling you all week."

"And I haven't been answering."

"I know that," Leila responded. "What I want to know is why."

Piper groaned. "Can we not do this? Please? There's way too much already on my mind."

Leila rolled her eyes. "Ah, is this student council stuff again? I know you were elected president and I know you think you have huge shoes to fill, but you have an entire council behind you. And if you've learned _anything_ you have to have learned that there are people who do actually want to help you. You said yourself that you were glad you had people there to save you from that 'stressful time'."

Much like Piper, Leila had ended up being thankful for the time Piper had spent on council. It hadn't just helped Piper, but it had helped Leila too. The latter had gotten used to her best friend being part of the mainstream student body and to the surprise of both friends, had taken it much better than expected.

"I haven't even started and you're already nagging me. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when things actually start heating up."

"Nah, I'll just call Leo." It had partially been a guess, partially a knowledge of Piper and partially observation, but the way Piper stiffened told Leila she'd hit a snag. Leila had watched Piper start to pull away from Leo and was honestly scared. It wasn't like Piper to pull away as quickly as she did and Leila was afraid of the void she knew it would leave behind. "I take it you _still_ haven't talked to him?"

"Drop it," Piper growled. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Sure you don't. Are you still mad at him for going to SFU?"

The brunette shot a glare at her best friend. "Did we miss the memo where I don't want to talk about it?"

Leila held her hands up in surrender. "Fine. I still think you're crazy."

"We knew that already," Piper pointed out. "Tell me something new."

Leila rolled her eyes. Piper could be stubborn, but Leila didn't hold out hope on the brunette reconciling with Leo again. It just wasn't in Piper's nature. "I'm off. Find me a lunch?"

This time Piper smiled. "Yeah. See you at lunch."

The girls headed off in different directions. Piper waited until she was out of Leila's sight before resting against the wall. She'd hoped Leila hadn't caught on, hoped that if she had, she wouldn't ask questions. She'd been royally wrong. She didn't want to talk about Leo, didn't want to talk about how he was across town and not thousands of miles away. And the worst part was that she knew it was partially irrational. After all, both Leo and Nick had made it perfectly clear that Piper was only _a_ factor and not _the_ factor in their decisions. What it had eventually come down to was a fear that Nick and Leo would have no use for a high school senior, especially in their new college lifestyles.

Nick had called to say they were both moved in and Leo had called, leaving a message with Phoebe to pass on, that everything seemed to be working out just fine. Phoebe had tried cajoling her sister into calling him back, but Piper had almost bitten Phoebe's head off when she dramatically detailed the remorse in Leo's voice when Phoebe asked him to leave a message. In Piper's defense, she had been legitimately out with Prue for school supplies. But she hadn't called him back and didn't plan on it any time soon.

"Are you okay?"

Piper blinked and looked up, only slightly startled. "I'm fine," she said with a smile.

The newcomer cocked his head to the side. "You don't look okay."

"I've got a lot on my mind."

"Already? Classes haven't even started yet."

Piper could stop herself from laughing at that. "It seems to be the ongoing story of my life."

He smiled, holding out his hand. "Matt Bride."

Piper considered him for a moment even as she grasped his hand. "This year's Social Chair."

"You know about council," he said, his smile turning sheepish.

"I should hope so," Piper replied with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think I got my position based on looks or blind luck." _Unlike the previous year._

"You're on too?"

"Piper Halliwell," she introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet a colleague."

"Our illustrious president. Big shoes to fill, or so I hear."

"I didn't think you were that involved last year," Piper said with a nod. She tried in vain to tamp down the emotions that welled up with thoughts of Leo.

Matt laughed. "Dan beat me out, unfortunately. Any idea why he didn't run for core?"

"He quit?"

"Ah, I vaguely remember rumours of that meeting. But, we'll save business for a more appropriate time. Can I walk you to class?"

"Sure," Piper answered in reflexive surprise. Suddenly the day was looking up. It wasn't often she had an admittedly cute guy ask her if he could walk her to class. This was going to be a story for Leila later, and maybe even Prue or Phoebe. "Lead the way."

Phoebe was confused when Piper came strolling out of the school to meet her at the end of the day beside a new face. Piper didn't often make friends fast and it came as a complete surprise to the youngest Halliwell that her sister seemed to be laughing and joking with this new hottie. Phoebe almost groaned when Piper caught sight of her and said goodbye to her new 'friend'.

"You know, I would have liked to meet him."

"Hello to you too," Piper replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Does this mean you had a good day?" Phoebe asked, her implication clear.

"Phoebe!"

"What?! I'm not blind, Piper. He's cute!"

"That doesn't mean there's anything between us."

Phoebe considered her sister carefully. "Denial is a very comfortable place for you, isn't it?"

Piper's mouth dropped open. "Denial?"

"You live there, don't you?" She just barely managed to dodge Piper's hands as the sisters headed off down the street. The summer's fight with Leo had brought all three sisters closer together and Piper found herself divulging her own tales as often as Phoebe and Prue did.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"There it is again!" Phoebe crowed in triumph. "Leo, this new guy… you live in a world of denial, sister."

"You know, Prue is never this mean."

"Prue's discovered the usefulness of tact. I, on the other hand, prefer the straight truth. I find it's more effective."

"Thank you," Piper said sarcastically. "And I'm not in denial. I met Matt today and-"

"Oooh! Mr Hottie has a name!"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Of course he has a name, Phoebe. Most parents name their children at birth."

"I'm surprised you learned it that fast."

"I can meet people too, you know," Piper said with a roll of her eyes.

Phoebe figured teasing Piper was going to lose its amusement soon, especially by Piper's tone. But she couldn't resist one last dig. "And what would Leo say?" The glare Piper shot her would have made her die on the spot.

"Leo doesn't get to make a call."


	3. On the Other Side

"You have to be kidding me," Nick groaned as he stepped through the bathroom he shared with Leo. "You're starting already?"

Leo sighed and stretched. "I handed in all of my applications for my societies and my course outlines are up on the net. I have readings and homework for my first classes, so yeah, I'm starting already."

Nick held up his hands as he dropped to Leo's bed. "This sudden focus doesn't have anything to do with a short brunette, does it?"

"I don't have time for riddles, Nick."

"Or patience, apparently. What the heck is going on with you two? You talked all the time and suddenly, nothing?"

"Hey, I didn't cut off contact, she did," Leo defended. "And it's not like I've stopped trying."

"Try harder?"

"Nick, I've tried everything. If I call her cell, she doesn't call back. If I leave a message with her sisters, either they don't pass it on-"

"Which I doubt," Nick interrupted. Prue and Phoebe weren't the type of people to keep something like that from Piper. And Phoebe hated seeing people fighting.

"Or she doesn't call back. If I go over, she's 'not home'," Leo said, making air quotes.

Nick considered this for a moment. "She really doesn't want to talk to you."

"Even my e-mails go unanswered. I don't know what to do."

Nick didn't understand. She wasn't as angry at him as she was at Leo and it didn't make any logical sense to him. And Piper was always logical. Why was she focusing her anger on Leo when he had stayed too? He made a mental note to ask Piper about it the next time they talked.

"How is she?" The quiet way Leo asked the question spoke of the frustration and pain he was feeling at having to ask someone else.

"Good. School started today, so I haven't talked to her since last night."

"You guys are talking every day."

"I'll talk to her Leo, see if I can figure out what's going on in her head."

Leo sighed. "I have to get back to this."

Nick knew it was his dismissal. "I'll come get you around dinner time. Someone's got to make you eat."

"Thanks, Mom," Leo replied, rolling his eyes.

* * *

Nick waited until 5 before calling Piper, his head whirling with the million things he wanted to scold her for. She and Leo had been closer than close, and for a while, Nick had been jealous at how fast Piper had learned to trust his best male friend. But when he'd seen how Leo handled Piper's moods, her anger, her frustration, her quirks and her OCD behaviour, he'd been more impressed than jealous.

He was sure he was one of the first people that noticed the tension between them. He'd assumed that prom would deal with it and he and Leo would head off to SFU with a spring in their step and a constant brunette visitor. Instead, he'd found out from Leo, then Piper, that it seemed they were in an epic battle of wills. What bothered him was that Piper always won those battles.

It didn't mean he wasn't going to try and fix it. Piper had confided in Leo over the summer and it scared him to see how fast she'd pulled away. As independent as Piper was, Nick knew she relied on her family and close friends to provide her with the support she needed to get through her day to day stresses. Her support system kept her sane and kept her healthy. Leo had been an integral part in that support system.

"Halliwell residence."

"Phoebe, it's Nick. Is Piper around."

"That depends on whether you're going to yell at her or not," Phoebe answered in her usual candidness.

Nick sighed. "This is ridiculous."

"You're telling me," Phoebe agreed. "She's almost bitten my head off every time _he_ comes up."

"She tell you why she's cut him out of her life?"

"Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zip."

"Damn."

"You're telling me. You don't have to live with her. She's a stubborn pain and won't admit that she needs him."

"Sounds like Pip. She around?"

"And I repeat, not if you're going to yell at her. It won't do anything."

"I won't," Nick said finally.

"I don't trust you, but I warned you. Hang on."

There was shuffling, muffled yelling, then Piper's voice. "Hey Nick."

"And? How's Baker High?"

Piper laughed. "No different than last year, I guess. It's only the first day."

"And I bet you had an announcement in this morning about the first council meeting being next week, Miss Overachiever."

"That's not nice!" Piper protested. "And at least it's Wednesday and not Monday. Who puts meetings on Mondays?"

Nick wasn't stupid. "Not-so-subtle dig there, Pip. Want to tell me why he's moping about here and you're moping about there but you won't answer his phone calls or e-mails? Or return his messages?"

"Why is everyone so interested in this?"

Nick heard the blatant anger in her voice and knew he was walking on thin ice. "Because we care," he told her frankly. "You're both moping around. You miss each other. Swallow your pride and call him."

"I don't need him," she snapped petulantly.

"You don't need to shut him out either. I thought we were over the whole 'staying for you' thing." He knew the deep breath he heard over the phone was Piper trying to control her emotions.

"I appreciate your concern," she started slowly. "But this is between me and Leo."

Nick snorted. "Yeah right."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He'd set her off and he knew it. "You won't answer anything. How is it between the two of you when you won't talk to the guy?"

He was right. They both knew it.

"Its better this way."

"It would be better if you guys kissed and made up."

"Look, you don't understand-"

"Then help me understand, Piper. You can't seriously be fighting with him because he chose SFU or you'd be fighting with me too."

"We're not fighting."

"You're right, you're not. Fighting would require you guys to talk."

"Thanks Dr Phil."

"Anytime."

"I'm hanging up now."

"Fine." But neither of them hung up.

Finally, Piper took a deep breath. "It's easier this way," she said softly and hung up.

Nick looked at the phone as the dial tone sounded. Easier? For who? And how did it make anything easier? He had a moping canmate and the Halliwells had a moping sister. It didn't make life easier for anyone. A thought started forming in the back of his mind, creeping up through his consciousness. He'd just have to show her that it wasn't easy for anyone. He'd just have to figure out how to do it.

* * *

**_Not my best work by a long shot, but Piper and Leo aren't currently talking, so it makes life difficult. Plus, there's no one on Piper's side so there'll be a lot of repetition until she realizes that it is stupid and you can actually make it work. Next up, it's time to meet Baker High's Student Council!_**


	4. Invitation to the Social Circle

Piper had tried to deliberately plan a free period for the day she'd set for the start of council to give her a chance to get accumulated to her new position. She had all of Leo's notes from the previous year and she knew that the large majority of the council was, thankfully, returners. She was simply going to have to get used to the new members.

Zoe and Cooper were returning as the Junior Representatives and Camy had decided to run again. Camy's counterpart had moved away through the summer and been replaced by Kirk Boaz. She'd have to see how he'd do along side Camy. The Freshman representatives were, of course, new and Piper had already identified and seen both Alex and Kim with the 'in-crowd'. Some things simply never changed.

Much to her chagrin, Dan had run again, though for Senior Representative instead of one of the core executive. He was joined by Brittany Orrick, the girl who had run against Piper the previous year and lost. In all honesty, Piper had been surprised to see that she was running when Erin had been so upset with the way council had been run.

As for her core executive, she'd already met and talked with Matt. To her, he seemed like the type to work hard and, from what she'd heard, he had a lot of ideas for things to do with the school. Piper was also happy with her vice-president. She'd been lucky enough to meet Hannah Lucas during the previous year and had subtly prodded and cajoled until Hannah had agreed to run. Her school involvement had been all over the spectrum so it hadn't been difficult for her to clench the position.

All in all, Piper had to admit she was happy with the people who she was going to be able to work with for the year. She smiled at Hannah as she came in with an armful of pages. The first meeting always had the most paperwork to sort through and as vice president, Hannah was in charge of the administrative side of council.

Like every other year, the core executive had been voted in during the first week of May to allow for a transition period, but it had only been Hannah and Piper that had gotten together over the summer to figure out the administrative and monetary parts of council. Piper had been more than excited at meeting a new friend.

"Alright," Hannah said, plopping the pages on the table. "We've got contact info sheets, budget proposal – as put together by yours truly with help from your budget last year – and the survey sheets for things they want to see in the school this year."

Piper nodded, filing through the package Hannah handed her. "Attendance sheet is here, I was just skimming though the new members."

"And?"

Piper shrugged. "Most are returners on the representative front, which we figured."

"So you know they'll work. What else?"

"Dan."

"I saw that on the results list by the office. Wasn't sure what to think of it," Hannah admitted handing Piper half of her piles so they could put together the representative packages.

"We'll see. So long as he doesn't quit and actually gets work done there shouldn't be any problems."

"Even with you?"

That was another thing Piper liked about Hannah. Much like Phoebe she didn't bother with pleasantries or beating around the bush. "We'll have to see, I guess."

"Ladies."

Both girls smiled as Matt entered, the bustling of the school starting to grow behind him. Piper glanced at the clock. Almost time for lunch and the first council meeting of the year.

"That's everything?"

"For the beginning, yeah," Piper nodded. "How much time?"

"Five, ten minutes tops. The bell should ring any minute."

"Good," Hannah said, splitting her pile in half again. "You can help. Find the packages."

Matt grinned. "This is what it's going to be like, huh?" he asked, sliding his pile to the other side of Piper.

"What can we say? We're efficient," Piper responded with a smile.

"With your track record it doesn't surprise me," Matt told her, smile growing. "So tell me, what's my budget like?"

"Council's budget is pretty much yours," Hannah answered as she and Piper worked seamlessly to put together the last packages.

"Beautiful. Let's seem how much we can squeeze out of it."

Piper laughed. "Leave us some," she teased. "We'll have to keep a float of it just to make sure. If I remember right, it started at a thousand dollars last year." They continued to talk quietly as the rest of council filed in, chattering amongst themselves. Finally, when Piper saw they were all seated, she smiled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this year's Baker High Student Council."

* * *

Two weeks later, Piper was weaving her way through the halls on her way to class when Matt jogged up beside her.

"I have a question for you."

She smiled up at him. "Shoot."

"You heading to Kim's party?"

Piper knit her brow. "Kim?"

"Freshman Rep, short girl, blonde…" He sighed when he got nothing out of her. "Wanted to know if there was any way they could run a cheer camp?"

A lightbulb went on in Piper's head. "Okay, I know who you're talking about. She's having a party?"

"She invited all of council, Piper. Did you not check your mailbox?"

She had a mailbox in the office for things council-related, but she'd been avoiding it because of all of the papers that had piled up in it. She and Hannah had planned to go through it Tuesday after school to figure out whether any of it was more meant for Hannah, or even Matt. "I'm afraid of it," she admitted.

"Invitations were left in the mailboxes. All of council's going."

Piper sighed. "When?"

"Friday. C'mon, Piper, live a little."

She raised an eyebrow. "Live a little? I have a life, thanks so much."

"Outside of school? All I ever hear is that you spent the night doing homework or you spent your lunch hour looking over council stuff. I've never heard of you going out to a party or hanging out with friends."

"Leila and I had lunch together the other day," Piper defended. But, as usual, Leila had interrogated her about Leo and Piper had been virtually avoiding her since. She was sick of people ragging on her about what was going on with Leo and, if she was honest, it had kind of taken a toll on her social life, whatever that meant.

"Uh huh, and which day was that?"

Piper did have to think about that, but countered with something else. "Hannah and I had lunch yesterday."

"Over club requests. I saw the pages before I sat down."

She'd forgotten he'd joined them.

"It would look _terrible_ if all of council showed up except our president. Think of it as a way to interact with your constituents."

"Big words."

"You coming?"

Piper sighed. "I don't see why not."

"Fantastic, I'll pick you up okay?" he offered, then he was gone.

Piper blinked. He was going to pick her up? She'd just agreed to go, she hadn't agreed to go with him. She shook her head. She hadn't done anything to make him think she was interested in any more than friendship so why did it matter? Still, her gut churned uncomfortably. She shook her head and continued on down the hall making a mental note to call Prue and bug Phoebe about giving her a hand on picking her outfit for Kim's party.

* * *

_**This may seem like another useless chapter, but it's really not, I swear. And Leo will come back into play shortly! We should see him in the next two chapters or so, so stay tuned!**_


	5. What's Eating Piper Halliwell

Piper opened the door to reveal her older sister and sighed in relief. "Thank God. I wasn't sure if you got my message."

Prue raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Do you seriously think I'm going to miss your first party? You're taking this coming out of your shell thing pretty seriously."

Piper's smile was sarcastic as she made her way up the stairs. "Are you staying the night?" she asked. "Because you have clothes here, you know."

"I know," Prue agreed. "This is the rescue bag, just in case we can't find anything in your closet."

"You're confidence in me is astounding."

"You were the one that called me," Prue pointed out. "Grams know you're going?"

"Yeah," Piper nodded.

"Who else?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Council was invited, Miss Gossip."

"Oh please, she hasn't heard half of the gossip," Phoebe said as the sisters entered Piper's room.

Prue raised an eyebrow, dropping her bag by the door. "Do tell."

"Piper's got a new admirer," Phoebe said.

Piper glared. "Phoebe thinks I have a new admirer."

"Oh please. He made sure you'd come tonight, he's picking you up."

"How do you know all of that?!" Piper exclaimed.

Phoebe shrugged. "The rumour mill's been working over time with you and Matt," she said in sing-song. "The whole school knows you're going to be showing up with him tonight."

Piper groaned flopping down on her bed. "I don't like him."

"Sure you don't," Phoebe shot back.

Prue, on the other hand, regarded her sister carefully. She'd been careful with Piper since she'd heard about the huge breakdown that Piper had surrounding her fight with Leo. Unlike Phoebe she knew pressuring Piper was going to be utterly useless. Plus, she preferred the subtle approach and by the way Piper avoided any discussion about the blond man, Prue assumed there was still something there. The question was what?

"Are you here to pester me or help me?" Piper snapped. She loved her sisters, but she didn't love how they seemed to enjoy jumping to conclusions about her.

"He's a hottie too, Prue."

"And you're going to a party with him. It's true love."

Phoebe and Piper both glared at her, Phoebe because she didn't appreciate Prue's sarcasm and Piper because she didn't like the implication.

"Come on, Pheebs. Piper's still in love with Leo or she'd talk about him."

Piper glared. Prue had become the favourite sister by not pressuring her to talk about it and here she was, bringing Leo up. "He's not part of my life, why should I?"

"Not for lack of trying," Prue pointed out heading over to join Phoebe by Piper's closet. "Look, Piper, I've left you alone on this, but you seriously need to reconsider this. It's stupid."

"It's not."

"Then there's a whole lot you're not telling anyone because it doesn't make any logical and rational sense. And if there's one thing you most definitely are, it's logical and rational."

"And we're talking about this hours before I'm going out with another guy because…?"

"I knew it!" Phoebe crowed triumphantly. "It _is_ a date!"

"It's not a date!" Piper exclaimed in anger. "You know what? Never mind, I'll just go call Matt and tell him I'm not going."

Prue and Phoebe looked at each other. They knew Piper better than that and knew that this tantrum was likely to pass before she actually called him to cancel. That, and Piper simply didn't cancel.

But Piper did head downstairs and into the kitchen, hoisting herself up on the stools at the counter. Grams was baking something, a huge bowl in front of her as she added ingredients. She didn't say anything, knowing Piper would talk when she was calm enough to do so. But she did raise an eyebrow at her granddaughter.

"Phoebe and Prue are driving me nuts," Piper said simply.

Grams loved her granddaughters, but had learned as they'd grown older that it was easier to let them solve their own problems instead of stepping in the middle. They were easier to solve anyway, especially since the girls had grown closer and into their own personalities. But she still worried about Piper the most because she'd been so slow to grow into her own.

"I don't get it," Piper confessed. "They're so fixed on this thing with Leo and I don't understand why they just won't drop it. I don't want to talk about it, so I don't talk about it."

Grams didn't say anything for a few minutes as she went about putting a few cookies on a plate and sliding them across the counter to Piper. "Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"Because I don't want to," Piper responded shortly. "And why should I?"

"It does help, sometimes," Grams said wisely. She was surprised to see tears in Piper's eyes. She was around the counter in an instant, hugging Piper tightly. "Come now."

"It _hurts_," Piper said finally, after she'd gotten control of herself. "I don't want to talk about it because it hurts."

"All the more reason to talk about it, sweetheart."

"Talking about it won't make it any better," Piper said softly.

"The mind and heart simply build scabs over wounds when you ignore them, Piper. You have to heal them."

"I don't understand why I have to talk about it to do it."

"Sometimes talking about it gives you a different perspective."

"What do you think, Grams? Do you think I'm being stupid by pushing Leo out of my life?"

Grams had always enjoyed Leo's company. He was a polite young man and he seemed to truly and genuinely care about her granddaughter. She couldn't fault the man for that. In fact, it had been what originally endeared him to her. She had been shocked that Piper had been so adamant about his college choice.

"I think you're asking for more pain," Grams said, stroking Piper's head. She pulled away to cup Piper's cheeks. "Why did you push him away?"

Piper sniffled. She knew Grams would never judge her choices and knew that she only wanted what was best for Piper. "It's easier. This way I don't have to be pushed out of his life when he makes new friends and doesn't have time for me anymore."

"Oh Piper," Grams said sympathetically. This was what she'd been afraid of during the years Piper had hid in her shell. The middle Halliwell had never been as outgoing as her sisters and had kept to the shadows much more. Piper, Grams knew, had been teased through school and ridiculed to the point that she didn't bother to try and get involved. She buried herself in books and academics and excelled, but Grams had been proud to see Piper stretch out of that shadow and start to become the strong, independent woman Grams had always known she'd be.

"Even Nick and I don't talk that often. He's always got something to do."

"But he always calls you back, doesn't he? When he has spare time to talk to you?"

"Yeah."

"See, Piper? He makes time for you because you're important to him. Just like you're important to Leo."

"I'm just a high school girl. They have an entire campus of people. They don't need to hang on to me."

"That's not your decision to make," Grams said gently. "You haven't even tried."

Piper sniffled again. "I don't want to get hurt."

Grams tucked Piper's hair behind her ears. "You'll never gain anything if you don't take risks. Leo's still important to you or you wouldn't be here talking about it. Is he important enough to keep?"

Piper knew she didn't need to answer that, but it didn't really help her insecurities. Leo had too much at the college level to need to worry about her at the high school level. And she knew he'd been worried about her taking over his council seat, not because he didn't think she could do it but because he knew of her tendency to put too much on her plate. Piper didn't trust easily and as a result liked to do things by herself to ensure they were done right.

Phoebe came bounding down the stairs at that moment, stopping dead in the kitchen doorway as she took in Piper's tear-streaked face. She looked down and then back up, meeting Piper's eyes apologetically. "We've got an outfit picked out for you. We won't talk about Leo, promise."

Grams smiled at Piper encouragingly. "Go on, have fun tonight." She returned Piper's hug tightly, hoping it was enough reassurance. She watched the sisters head out of the kitchen. "And mind your curfew!"

"Yes Grams!"

* * *

_**This was important, the whole thing with Grams. I wanted to originally put her in Sixteen, but she never really seemed to fit. Party coming up next! Needless to say it won't be uneventful.**_


	6. Party Animal

Piper had to take a deep breath as she walked up Kim's front walk. She was seriously nervous. She was sure the large majority of people in the house she was about to step into weren't her type of people. She'd heard about the parties the cheerleaders and football team threw and knew that being careful was going to be her mantra for the night.

_But,_ she reminded herself, _you're here to have fun. You're here for a change._

It was exactly what Prue had said to her as she and Phoebe had applied the minimal makeup that emphasized Piper's natural features. She was going to try not to fret and fuss while she was at the party and had even made herself a deal to meet at least one new person while at the party. And be back in time for curfew, a concept she'd drilled into Matt's head.

"Relax, Piper, I'll have you home by curfew," he'd promised over and over again.

She wasn't sure if he was exasperated with her or humouring her. She felt her nerves sky rocket again as she stepped into the house. Kim was right there, greeting new arrivals.

"You made it!" she exclaimed. "And together, how cute! Are you guys dating?"

Piper suddenly remembered why she hated these types of things and tried for an indulgent smile. She was rescued from a sarcastic remark by Hannah's breezy laughter.

"Not a chance, Kim. C'mon Piper, we'll grab a drink."

Piper smiled and excused herself, trying to ignore Matt's disgruntled face. It wasn't like she was his date, after all. He'd offered to pick her up and didn't give her much of a chance to reply. She smiled at Hannah. "Thanks for the rescue."

"More than welcome. You know, this would be so much easier if you really did have a guy."

Piper turned a shocked look on her VP. "Sorry?"

Hannah had the grace to look embarrassed. "I've been drinking, my manners aren't what they usually are."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

Hannah sighed. "I've come this far, I might as well go for broke right? I worked with you and Leo all summer, well, until you cut ties. You'd come here with him? There wouldn't be this superficiality issue. Leo's got that uncanny ability to see through and avoid it."

"I thought you weren't going to nag me."

"Again," Hannah said with a rueful smile. "My manners aren't what they usually are with a little bit of alcohol in me. I promise it's optional though."

Piper let out a breath of relief. A side-effect of her controlling nature made her adverse to the loosening effects of alcohol. She didn't mind others enjoying it, though she did dislike that it was underage, but, especially in this situation, she wasn't going to say anything.

"Hey Zoe!"

Zoe laughed as she caught sight of Hannah. "Another one?"

"Better make it a soda," Hannah agreed with the unspoken question.

"Why are you not socializing?" Piper asked with a smile as Zoe made her way over to them, avoiding the others clamouring for drinks.

"Kim asked for a little bit of last minute help. You know us counsel people-"

"All work and no play," Piper said with a sort of sad smile.

"Nah, we just can't resist the need to help. Plus, would you rather have a stranger here? What'll you have?"

"Just a coke please," Piper asked with a genuine smile.

"Coke and soda, coming up," Zoe echoed, allowing both girls to watch as she skillfully put the liquid in two cups.

"You're good at that."

"I have a bartender for an older brother," Zoe answered. "You'd be surprised what I can do with a vodka bottle."

Between Hannah's tipsy happiness and Zoe's naturally cheery nature, Piper felt herself starting to relax. "Thanks Zoe."

"No problem. Give me a second and I'll tell you all about Ethan's tricks."

"You're working, don't worry about it," Piper contradicted.

Zoe shrugged. "Someone else can take over for a bit. Kim swears she doesn't have to do anything because it's her party and she's the hostess but it would have been nice for her to stand back here for a bit."

Hannah smiled indulgently. "Well, let's remember. She's still a baby. She's learning."

"Could you have sounded more condescending?" Piper asked with a laugh accepting her coke from Zoe.

"Probably," Hannah agreed with a shrug. "Most likely."

"Its kind of true when you think about it," Zoe agreed, waving to someone down at the other end of the bar. Then she hopped over to meet them. "Shift over."

"I give her credit for knowing where her cards have to be," Hannah pointed out, hunting Kim's blond head out in the crowd. "She's so stereotypical it kills me."

Zoe nodded in agreement. "I do give her that. She's aiming big, that's for sure. Inviting all of counsel was a nice touch."

"Do you guys always think so bad of people?"

Hannah raised an eyebrow at Piper. "Are you always so optimistic? No. And it's just Kim's type. You can't tell me you like them. Gossip by the water cooler says that would be a lie."

Piper ducked her head. Her arguments and lack of a friendly relationship with a senior that had been exactly like Kim were legendary and only after a year. Getting Erin to quit had been epic in Baker High's history.

"Saw you came in with none other than Matt Bride. The cheerleaders were green."

"The cheerleaders are always green lately," Hannah replied before Piper could. "And we both know that'll never happen, no matter how many times he blindsides her."

"Um, hello, right here," Piper sniped. "Let them have him. I definitely do not have time to add a relationship to my plate."

"Not to mention Matt wouldn't be your first choice anyway," Hannah shot back.

Piper took a deep breath and then a healthy gulp of her drink. She had to remind herself that Hannah didn't mean anything by her words. It didn't mean it was any easier to be reminded of the rocky road she'd chosen. And Grams' analysis of the whole situation had put her actions into perspective, but pride kept her from making contact with Leo and reestablishing their friendship.

"Ladies!" Matt exclaimed, draping an arm over Piper's shoulders.

"Hi Matt," Piper said, removing his arm and rolling her eyes.

He shot a pout her way. "I would have stuck with you, but there were rounds to do."

Piper knit her brows. "Okay…"

Hannah was sniggering behind her hand.

Piper shot her a look over the rim of her cup. "You're not helping."

"Is there something I should know about?" Matt asked, looking between Piper and Hannah, then finally to Zoe. "You girls speak a different language."

"Not really," Zoe sang cheerfully. "I'll grab you another coke, Piper, you're getting low."

Hannah threw back the rest of her soda. "I'll go with. Heaven forbid we get in between these two." If looks could kill, Hannah would have been dead at Piper's glare.

"You don't want to spend time with me?"

Piper sighed. "Look, Matt, thank you for driving, and thank you in advance for taking me home, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea here." Her eyes darted around the room.

Matt directed her face back to his. "Wrong idea?"

"You know I'm busy," she said after minute, finally deciding on the path she was going to take. "School and counsel take up all of my time."

He smiled, the smile that got him everything – or everyone – he wanted. "So you've said."

She took a deliberate step away. "That's my life, Matt. Just that."

"Relax, Piper. Have some fun." He stepped closer, leaning into her personal space.

"Hey Matt!"

Piper breathed out a sigh of relief even as she absorbed Matt's annoyed face.

"Two second," he mumbled softly. "Two more seconds." Then he was gone, off to find the voice.

"Hey Piper!"

_Out of the frying pan into the fire,_ Piper thought to herself even as she turned a smile to Kim. "Hey Kim."

"I'm so glad you could make it! It's going to be so much fun to work together this year! I have some new ideas for the athletic department and I'm so excited to get started! Baker High has one of the highest budgets for their sports programs-"

"Had," Piper corrected as gently as she could.

Kim stopped. "Huh?"

"Had one of the largest. It was cut back last year."

Kim cocked her head to the side for a moment. "Oh. Oh! I remember Lacey saying that! She was so excited about being able to go to that quiz tournament."

Piper blinked. The girl had just changed her entire view at the drop of a hat. "Lacey?"

"Mmhmm, she's my older sister. She really liked you."

Piper blushed. Lacey had been one of the girls Erin had always found time to pick on. A year older than Piper, Lacey had nevertheless been a driving force behind Piper's campaign to even the school. "Wow. Small world."

"Kim, hi," Zoe greeted, returning with a new drink for Piper.

"Thank you so much for covering drinks for me," Kim gushed. "It really helped out."

Zoe shrugged. "It's what we do."

Piper hid a snigger behind her cup, shooting a glance at Hannah. She shook her head as the coke went down. Something was off, but she chalked it up to a bad can of coke. "Kim was telling me about the ideas she had for the athletic department."

Hannah, a science nerd by trade, raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, we'll see. Piper just said we don't have the money we used to. But my mom always said I was good at finding ways to get the best prices. I'm a champion shopper."

"Why am I not surprised?" Hannah asked in a mumble.

Piper elbowed Hannah's side none-too-gently.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "I'm going to… go find a bathroom."

"Upstairs, first door on the left," Kim directed cheerfully.

Piper rolled her eyes at Hannah's retreating back. Baker High had come far in accepting everyone, whatever clubs they happened to be in, but even Piper knew that some changes were just too hard to accept in the ten months of the school year. Hannah disliked peppy and Kim was the embodiment of that particular trait. Suddenly, Piper felt the room start to spin and vaguely started to panic. She'd never had this kind of reaction to coke before.

Zoe looked at her in concern. "Are you okay, Piper?"

"Um… fine. I just… I need to sit down for a minute."

Zoe wrapped an arm around the older girl's waist as she stumbled. "I know you haven't been drinking…"

Kim caught Piper's other side as she started to go over, no longer the bubbly stereotype she played. "Let's get her upstairs. My room."

Working together, the girls managed to get Piper up the stairs and settled on Kim's bed. Kim left to get her sister while Zoe tried to keep Piper awake and talking. She'd only ever head about girls getting drugged at parties, she'd never experienced it and she'd never seen it happening first hand.

"What happened?" Lacey asked as she stepped into the room.

"I don't know," Kim answered honestly. "She was talking to us just fine one minute and the next, she couldn't stand properly.

Lacey sent her a dark look. "We have to get her out of here. We have to call 911."

Kim's eyes opened wide. "No way! Mom will kill me! And Dad will send me to a convent!"

"Kimmy we don't have a choice. I don't know what to do here," Lacey said in exasperation.

Zoe snatched up Piper's cell phone which had fallen out of her purse when the accessory took a tumble to the floor. She scrolled through the numbers, hoping upon hope she'd find someone to call. Leo Wyatt was the first name she recognized and she hit the send button.

* * *

Leo groaned as he heard the loud shrill ringing of his cell phone. Who the hell would be calling him at night? "Hello?"

"Leo? It's Zoe Chesterton, from Baker High."

It took Leo's half-asleep mind to put together who he was talking to. He pulled the phone away from his ear, blinking at the device. It was then he looked at and recognized the number it was coming from. "Zoe? Why are you calling so late? And why are you calling from Piper's phone?"

"It's Piper. Something's wrong with her."

"What do you mean something's wrong?" Leo asked, even as he threw himself out of bed, snatching up a nearby pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"She's groggy, I think. She's almost out cold. Lacey's talking to her, trying to get something out of her, but we can't."

His keys were by the door, exactly where he'd left them and he locked his door behind him. "What happened?"

"I don't know. She was fine one second and the next, she wasn't doing so well."

Leo almost growled. "Where are you?"

"Kim's house. Or… Lacey's? Um…58 Santa Anna Road. It's, um, 3 streets over from Erin's place?"

"Major intersection?" Leo asked tersely as he raced down the dormitory steps.

"Um…" She looked to Lacey helplessly. She gladly relinquished the phone when Lacey held out her hand for it. It took Lacey substantially less time to spout off directions to the house and she even suggested he come to the back door. Meanwhile, Zoe and Kim tried to keep Piper awake.

"What happened?" Kim whispered fearfully. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

"It happens," Lacey said, back to calm as she replaced Piper's phone in her purse. "Leo's on his way. He'll be about fifteen minutes."

Zoe sighed. "Come on, Piper. Just a little bit longer."

* * *

Leo knew he was probably breaking a large number of San Francisco laws and ordinances, but really, when Piper was in trouble, what other choice did he have. And that was something he was going to have to seriously psychoanalyze some time. Even when she wasn't talking to him, Piper had a hold on him that no one else had ever had.

There was no where close to Lacey's house for him to park and so he was left to race down the street. Much to his surprise, Lacey was waiting for him out front and she quickly waved him around the side of the house. "What's wrong?"

"She's groggy, disoriented. Zoe thinks it had something to do with her drink."

"Piper was drinking?"

Lacey shrugged. "Zoe swears it's just been coke all night."

That sounded more like Piper. "Drugged?"

"Could be, but I'm not sure I want to think about it." She led the way up the stairs and into a bedroom. Leo's heart caught in his throat at how disoriented Piper was and how terrified Zoe looked.

"Thank God," Zoe breathed.

Leo was at Piper's side as fast as his legs could carry him, checking her pulse. "Piper? How do you feel?"

Her eyes blinked open at the new voice. "Leo?"

"Yeah, Pip, it's me. How are you feeling?" He brushed his hand over her forehead.

"Owie."

"Can you move? Stand up?" He watched her try on her own, unsurprised when she couldn't pull herself to her feet. "Okay, slow down."

"Tired."

"I know, just stay with me a little bit longer okay, then I promise you can sleep it off. Do you remember what happened before?"

"Spinny," she mumbled, her eyes falling closed again.

He sighed. "Sedative probably. I'll get her home, let her sleep it off."

"Is she going to be okay?" Kim asked softly.

Leo smiled, trying to be encouraging through his very much intact worry. "She'll be fine. A little sore tomorrow morning, probably a blinding headache, but she'll be fine." He scooped Piper into his arms. Grams would flip if he brought her home, but he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with the fallout of having her wake up in his dorm without a memory of how she'd gotten there. He'd have to take her home.

All through the drive to Halliwell Manor, Leo tried to figure out what he was going to tell Grams. To explain that Piper had been drugged would probably give the poor woman a heart attack and it was most definitely the one thing he wanted to avoid. He looked over to Piper's lolling head and sighed. She was going to be pissed come morning, but given the option of leaving her to someone else's rescue and doing it himself, he'd much rather be there for her.

He got lucky. When he knocked on the door it wasn't Grams, but Prue that answered.

"Leo?"

"Hi Prue. Can I come in?"

"Is that Piper?"

Leo swallowed. "It is. Where's her room?"

"Upstairs, second door on the right," Prue answered. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine."

"What happened?"

Leo sighed as he led the way up to Piper's room, getting her settled on her bed and pulling a blanket over her body. "Someone probably drugged her at the party," he said softly.

"What?!"

Leo shushed her quickly. "She's fine, nothing happened. Well, except the drugging. She'll have a headache come morning but she'll be fine. Go to bed."

"No way, I'm staying with her."

"I've got her, Prue. Go to bed."

"You can't stay the night! Grams'll flip in the morning."

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Leo looked at Piper. "And I want to be here."

Prue sighed, shaking her head. "She's an idiot, you know."

He smiled. "She's Piper."

"Well, even Piper can be stupid. Good night Leo. Thank you for saving my sister."

Leo smiled as he watched her leave, then turned to Piper. _For you, anything,_ he thought before pacing to the window. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

_**Do we all remember Leo? Good. 'Cause he's about to become a more permanent fixture in Piper's life. Remember the romance? Prepare yourself, for when I write romance, it is brush-your-teeth sweet!**_


	7. First Patching

Piper woke slowly, her head pounding painfully. _What on earth happened?_ she asked herself as she groaned and tried to burrow further into the pillows.

"Piper?"

Her eyes shot open and her body upright too fast for her spinning brain and Piper felt herself heave. A pail of some sort showed up in front of her and she dutifully emptied the contents of her stomach into it. Strong hands eased her back to the pillows and she heard someone leave, then return.

Hands gently pushed her hair back from her face and she sighed happily when a cold cloth settled on her forehead. Carefully she blinked her eyes open only to find her gaze drawn to Leo's worried one. "Leo?"

He smiled tightly. "How are you feeling?"

Piper closed her eyes again. "What happened?"

"We're not sure."

Piper's eyes flew open again and she tried to get up. "Grams."

Leo's hands pushed her back down. "You're fine, not in trouble." He smiled and took on a slightly ironic tone. "I had you home by curfew."

Piper felt awkward. She hadn't spoken to Leo in too long and he was here for her, like he'd promised right before their end-of-summer blow up. "What are you doing here?"

"Lacey called," he responded. "Since it was her sister's party and all. She said something was up with you. I came to get you and got you home. I told Prue I'd stay to make sure this wasn't serious."

She allowed her eyes to flutter closed again. "My knight."

Leo caught the sarcasm in her tone. "Drop it, Piper."

"That's rich, coming from you," she spat, though vaguely realized neither of them had moved. He was still holding the cool cloth to her head with gentle hands.

"Can we not fight until after lunch please?" Leo asked. "We're still not sure if this is drug or alcohol related."

"I wasn't drinking."

Leo nodded. Piper didn't like drinking. It was a side-effect of her need to be in control, especially of herself. "Not deliberately," he agreed.

Her eyes stayed closed. "What do you mean?"

"It happens all the time at parties. Did any one else bring you a drink last night?"

"I don't know," Piper snapped. She felt exposed, just lying there like she was. She hadn't seen Leo in almost a month and a half and now, here he was, out of the blue, taking care of her after a party.

"Think, Piper," Leo coached gently. Her snappish nature wasn't exactly news to him, nor was the crankiness. Piper had always been even more frustrating when she had a headache.

She took a deep breath, trying to recall the night. "Hannah brought me one," she said slowly, her mind trying to recall the whole incident.

"Who was bartending?" Leo had met Hannah and couldn't think of something the vice-president could have against Piper.

"You're asking too many questions," Piper whined. "My head hurts."

"I know, Pip, but it's important." Actually, he had no idea what he could do once he found out who it had been, but he'd feel better if he could find someone with a vendetta against someone as sweet, if abrasive, as Piper.

The sound of her nickname sent a shock through her system. "Dan," she said slowly, her eyes opening. "Dan was doing drinks."

Leo smiled, that made logical sense. He brushed a hand over her hair. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I don't want to do this now," she whispered.

"When else am I going to get you to listen?" he pointed out. "Even you know that your anger's irrational."

She did, though she knew it was a lucky guess on his part. "Please?"

"I just want to understand why you're pushing me away."

The pain in his voice cracked her heart. "You're in college," she said softly.

"So?"

Piper shrugged one shoulder. "Why would you want to have anything to do with a high school girl?" Later, she'd blame her candidness on the pain in her head and the resulting inability to concentrate on rebuilding her walls.

"Oh, Pip, that's crazy."

His hands were still stroking through her hair and relaxing her so much better than the cloth on her forehead. "It's not crazy," she argued in a small voice.

"Piper, you're my friend too. Nick makes time to talk to you, so why do you think I wouldn't?" God, he wanted to pull her close and never let her go.

Piper sighed. "Can I just go back to sleep please? My head hurts."

Leo smiled, trying to hide his disappointment. He'd wanted to solve things and he wanted them solved now. It was, he knew, silly, considering she was no where up to her normal standards, but he figured if he could get through to her now, maybe some of the things he said would actually stick. "Yeah, go back to sleep. I'll come check on you in a bit."

Piper rolled over, listening for his retreating footsteps and the click of her door. She wasn't going to be able to sleep, she just didn't want to deal with the enormous well of emotions his presence brought back. She'd been doing so well, keeping her life in order, and now this.

She'd known there was immaturity and had started toying with calling him before the party had happened. But instead of being able to take her time, having the ability to think and consider what she wanted to say, she was virtually shoved into his arms. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his help. She was glad someone had had the presence of mind to call him, but it was also difficult to keep herself unaffected by it all.

How was she supposed to get him to understand that he didn't need her? How was she supposed to convey her fear of being cast aside as he got more involved in college life? How was she supposed to explain that in due time, he'd realize he made a mistake in choosing to stay in San Francisco?

But hadn't they all said that it wasn't just Piper that kept him there? Hadn't they tried to make her understand that she couldn't be _the_ reason for his decision? Hadn't they all tried to knock some sense into her head before she got herself in too deep? How was she supposed to get herself out of thoughts that had cemented themselves in her head and heart? It wasn't that she didn't want him there at all. She _did _want him there and part of her had been ecstatic that he'd chosen to stay in the city. In fact, most of her was over the moon about it. The issues cropped up when she started to analyze that feeling.

He wasn't her boyfriend. She'd denied a crush on him for ages, but with Grams' words, her own feelings and the jolt in her stomach whenever she came across his e-mail while writing to someone else were telling her the exact opposite. Phoebe and Prue never teased unless they thought there was something solid to pick at her for. And she'd reacted, hadn't she? She hadn't rolled her eyes and moved on, she'd denied it with everything she could muster.

She slammed her eyes closed when the door creaked open, holding herself as still as possible.

"Don't try it, I know you're awake. I heard your conversation with Leo."

Damn Phoebe. Piper rolled onto her back to look up at her sister.

Phoebe didn't need an invitation to stretch out along side Piper. "Prue says he brought you home last night."

"I don't remember," Piper admitted. "I don't remember much about what happened after Hannah wandered off."

Phoebe nodded. Leo had warned them that she probably wouldn't remember and pressuring her to do so wouldn't be much help.

"Look, Piper," Phoebe began after a few moments silence. "I know we've been bugging you about Leo and I know you don't like it, but if this isn't proof of how much he cares about you, I don't know how much brighter we have to go."

Piper sighed, rolling over, facing Phoebe face to face. "I'm protecting myself," she admitted finally, actually letting herself talk about what she was going through. "I don't know what's wrong with me, or if there's something wrong with me… I just know that it was easier to be the one to cut him out of my life instead of the other way around. I don't want to get hurt, Phoebe. By pushing him away, I'm protecting myself."

"We know that," Phoebe answered. "Prue, Grams and I… we all know that. But Leo doesn't, and he wants to be a part of your life, Piper. He's willing to try."

"I don't know if I'm willing to risk it," Piper admitted softly. Years of being the loner, the loser, the unseen Halliwell had taken it's toll on Piper's self-esteem and while Phoebe and Prue had been patient with her in trying to get her to come out of her shell, they both knew, in the end, it had been Nick and Leo that were responsible for that. But it didn't mean that that scared little girl was banished for good.

Phoebe reached out for Piper's hand. "You have to," she said softly. "He's too good to let get away."

Piper knew there were a million ways Phoebe could have meant a comment like that, but she didn't have the strength to address them. She was in physical pain and emotional turmoil, but Phoebe's point stood out as clear as day. Leo was too good for Piper to drop the friendship they'd built. Whatever else was in her heart she could address later, but now…

Piper pushed herself up carefully, allowing her body to get her bearings before she tried to take a few steps. She smiled thankfully when Phoebe got up to support her.

"Where are we going?" she asked softly.

"Kitchen."

Phoebe tried to resist the urge to smile. Maybe someone had gotten through to Piper after all. They made their way to the kitchen slowly and steadily and Phoebe helped Piper into a chair under the watchful eyes of Grams, Leo and Prue. Grams was the first to speak up.

"How are you feeling?"

Piper managed a weak smile. "Okay." Then her gaze turned to Leo as she tapped her fingers nervously on her thigh. "Do you want to stay? Maybe watch a movie?"

Leo grinned, wide and thankful. "I'd love to."

* * *

_**I am so sorry this took so long to put up! I feel absolutely terrible about it!**_

_**By my calculations the first romance should be coming up in 2 chapters (chapter 9) but it may come as early as the next one. Stay tuned!**_

_**God, that sounds corny.**_


	8. Time Out for Others

They fell into a routine like that, booking off every other Friday for a movie of some sort or just some time to hang out. Sometimes she went to his dorm, sometimes he came to the Manor. Either way, Piper found it surprisingly easy to make time for him. And Leo made time for her.

In the end, he'd gotten what he'd wanted, at least to some degree. Their relationship was platonic at least, but there were the little things, like the way she snuggled up to him or the increase of 'accidental' touches that spoke of something more. He was going slow, taking his time, letting her set the pace for all intents and purposes.

"I admire your restraint," Nick said with a small grin.

Leo blew out a breath. He wanted more with Piper and he'd be willing to admit that if asked. Unfortunately, he didn't want to push her. Piper spooked easily, as evidenced by her abrupt shove at the beginning of the year. He didn't want to throw her out of her comfort zone unless he was sure.

--

For Piper, it was a tug of war game. She felt more, she felt less; she wanted more, she didn't want to risk everything. She knew there was an element of insecurity in it all and understandably so. If she let Leo that far into her heart, if she let down the walls she kept up to protect her self-esteem, that would be the end. Once she let him in, she was pretty sure he'd never get out again. And if she went for the relationship and it didn't work, she was absolutely terrified of what would happen at the end.

"Does it matter?" Prue asked innocently as she, Piper and Phoebe strolled through the San Francisco streets. "I mean, look at Andy and I."

"You never told us you were in love with him!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Though, I guess we kind of knew it."

"Okay, one, we're not talking about Prue, two, I'm not in love with him," Piper said.

Prue rolled her eyes. "If that's what helps you sleep at night."

"I'm not!" Piper vehemently denied. Phoebe and Prue exchanged a look and Piper knew her younger sister agreed. "Come on, guys, I'm seventeen."

"So?"

"You can fall in love at seventeen," Phoebe agreed.

Piper shot Phoebe a look. "Uh huh, this from the fourteen-year-old."

"Hey! I've watched enough movies! It can happen."

"I'm not living in a movie Pheebs," Piper replied with a roll of her eyes.

"You might as well be with how perfect this is," Prue responded. "Even if you don't love him, he sure loves you."

"Not going to work," Piper sing-songed.

"I'm not telling you that to get you to think about it," Prue said in exasperation. "Grow a pair, Piper."

"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you," Piper shot back without missing a beat.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Either way, Piper, he's definitely got more than friendship on the brain and you do too."

"And it's not so bad to open up to a guy," Prue added before Piper could deny anything. "Andy and I still talk all the time."

"But you broke up."

"So what? I'm still here, aren't I? It's not like being with him was life or death."

"And you were in love with him?" Phoebe asked.

"Does it matter? We're trying to get Piper to get over her fears here, Pheebs. That has nothing to do with whether or not I loved Andy."

"Past tense," Piper commented with a grin at Phoebe. "Not good."

"Ah, we all know she's a bad liar," Phoebe responded with an absent wave of her hand, her eyes drawn elsewhere. "Skirt!"

Piper sighed, though she had to agree that the skirt Phoebe had pointed out did look adorable. "Sometimes, Pheebs, I wonder if you're ADD or just crazy."

Phoebe stopped with her hand on the door of the shop, considering Piper's comment. Finally, she shrugged. "Probably a little bit of both."

Piper shook her head affectionately. "That's what I was afraid of."

* * *

Leo could tell the second Piper stepped through the door that she was utterly exhausted. Every line of her body spoke of a hellish week and he let her in without a word. She plopped down on his bed, her bag dropping to the floor, her eyes falling closed.

"Bad week?"

"I don't know who to kill first, my social chair or my manipulative senior representative."

Leo chuckled. "Go with the rep."

"That was my first choice," she agreed without opening her eyes.

He sat beside her on the bed. "Want to tell me about it?"

"Matt will not leave me alone," Piper said without prompting. "I'm eating lunch with Leila, he's right there. Hannah and I are going over numbers, he's right there. I'm studying for a test and he's looking over my shoulder."

"Welcome to council."

"Oh no, this has nothing to do with council," she said, opening her eyes to meet his, ignoring the jump her stomach made. She'd been good about forcing her thoughts about Leo as anything more than a friend to the back of her head and she quite liked them there. "Half the time he won't talk about council. Hannah and I going over the numbers, totally focused… he's asking me about my sisters. I have work to do for Pete's sake, I can't keep submitting myself to the Spanish Inquisition."

He turned so one leg was tucked underneath him, looking down at her. "Is it so hard to believe that the guy may have a crush on you?"

Piper raised an eyebrow. "I'm a workaholic, we both know it, and I haven't even finished high school. You're nuts." Really, her insides had warmed from the inside out.

"You really don't think it's possible for a guy to like you?" he asked with his own eyebrow arch. "You may have grown up under a rock, but you're not that naïve."

Piper smacked his side. "That wasn't nice."

Leo laughed. "You wouldn't be friends with me if I was nice. That's just not the way you work. And plus, half of that was a compliment. More than half!"

"I'll give you that," Piper said with a mock glare. She sighed, her eyes falling closed again. "I could fall asleep right here."

Leo glanced at the clock. It was their normal movie time, 8:00 and he had to admit, there was something appealing about Piper feeling safe enough to fall asleep in his dorm room. But, he pushed himself up, pulling her by her arm to at least sit. "Come on, Pip. It's your turn to pick the movie."

She groaned but stood and wandered to his collection. Leo watched with a growing sense of satisfaction. Things were better. In fact, things were better than 'better'. Piper was confiding in him again, telling him the things that bothered her, some of her insecurities. He knew there was something else bothering her, but he was happy enough with what they had that pushing could wait.

Or so he thought.

* * *

**_Theoretically a cruel place to leave you. Only because I know what's coming next! I can promise you'll all be happy little readers after the next chapter!_**


	9. Just Try It

Piper woke slowly, a luxury she hadn't allowed herself in a while. Her body was warm in it's cocoon of blankets and, Piper realized, something breathing. After a moment of panic to wonder if something had happened that she couldn't remember, Piper stretched slowly, carefully rolling herself over without dislodging his arm over her hip, to come face-to-face with a still slumbering Leo.

This she could deal with.

Her mind pieced everything together as she became more aware of her surroundings. She wasn't in her bed in the Manor. This one was much thinner than she was used to, just enough room for her and Leo to fit. Deduction said she had to be in his dorm room. They were watching a movie, she remembered.

_I must have fallen asleep_, she thought to herself as her eyes fluttered closed again. An extra half an hour won't hurt. She was too warm and too comfortable to worry about the connotations of curling closer to Leo.

True to her body's inner alarm, she woke up half an hour later and woke much quicker than she'd originally thought. She was sure it had everything to do with the delicate brush of fingers across her cheek, pushing her hair behind her ear. She tilted her head, pillowed on Leo's shoulder and looked up into his eyes with a welcoming smile.

And a got a shock when she noticed the intensity of his gaze.

Her entire demeanor shifted, going tense in anticipation when his hand cupped the back of her head and tilted her lips towards his. Pressure came first, surprisingly gentle pressure that caressed her virgin lips, coaxing her to respond. The spark came when her body realized what was happening and Piper felt her eyes flutter closed as she sunk into the kiss.

He pulled away when he felt Piper pushing against his body knowing that the last thing he wanted to do was scare her by his attraction to her. He smiled when her eyes stayed closed, chest heaving and hand fisted in his t-shirt. "Piper?"

Brown eyes opened to meet his as she took stock of what was going on for the second time that morning. Leo's hand was now fisted in her own ratty t-shirt at her hip and Piper knew him well enough to know the way his arm was still flexing against her skin that he was restraining himself. "What was that?" she asked softly.

Leo chuckled, forcing himself to unclench his hand to trail fingers over her soft cheek. "That was a kiss. Is it okay?"

Piper sat up, moving to lean against the wall at the head of Leo's bed. "I don't know."

Leo had to stop himself from betraying the hurt and shock racing through his system. "You don't know?"

She looked over at him, smiling gently. Even if he was trying to hide his feelings, Piper knew him better than that. "I mean, I know what it means and…" She could feel herself start to blush. "And I liked it, but you're my best friend. You know more about me than even Leila and… I don't want to risk losing that."

Leo could understand where she was coming from. Piper, he knew, had not had a lot of friends through school. It was an unfortunate side-effect of how dedicated to her academics and to her family she was. "Sometimes things are worth the risk."

"Can you promise that this will be?" she replied. "Leo, you go to college. I'm a high school senior with barely enough time to finish her school work, let alone worry about boys or relationships."

"You made time for me last night," he pointed out softly. He knew Piper and he knew that this was a mixture of genuine worry and insecurity. She wouldn't have inadvertently brought up the age difference if that wasn't factoring into her decision.

"And fell asleep on you."

Leo pushed himself up, one arm supporting his body weight, the other one going to Piper's cheek. He turned her face to his, grateful when she didn't flinch or pull away. "I can only promise that you mean a lot to me. I can't promise we won't fight or that things will be perfect. We've already proven that our tempers can be volatile when put together. But I'd rather try and fail than not try and miss something amazing."

Piper sighed, moving out of the bed to stand by his nearby window. "You always know what to say."

"That's not a line, Piper. I have never said something to you I don't mean. Well, the fight aside."

Piper folded her arms across her chest, watching the student body awaken and begin their Saturday morning routines. She had to give him that. He'd never told her she could do something he knew she couldn't, had never given her more council work than he thought she could manage. The truth was she was scared.

"I know," Leo answered.

She hadn't realized she'd said it out loud.

"It's okay to be scared Piper," he said softly.

She heard him get out of bed, coming up to stand behind her.

"But it's me. I know what going into this means for you. I know what this is going to mean to you. But the last thing I want to do is tell you things only to turn around and break promises."

Piper sighed, still not turning to face him. "It's a lot to ask."

Leo rested his hands on her shoulders. "I'm asking you to try."

This time she did turn and looked up at him, every emotion written plainly on her face. "Leo…"

He leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers again, kissing her thoroughly and feeling her relax against him, responding to his kiss. Reluctantly, he pulled away. "There's something there, Piper. I know you and I know you wouldn't be afraid to push me away and slap me if this wasn't something you wanted."

Piper sighed. "There's too much to risk."

"Only if you're sure it won't work."

She looked up at him, at the conviction in his eyes. He truly believed that they could make a relationship work and part of her had to agree. They'd made their friendship work, with the movie nights and coffee dates here and there. They'd become closer than they were before Leo graduated and Piper had to admit, a relationship with Leo didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Okay," she said softly, nodding.

"Okay?"

"We'll try."

"We will?"

Piper arched an eyebrow. "Would you like me to change my mind?"

"No!" Leo exclaimed. "No."

She smiled. "We made our friendship work, right?"

"Right," he agreed, pulling her against his body. He knew this was to be Piper's first relationship, knew he was going to have to take things slow, but he was to excited that she'd accepted to worry about any of that now.

"Then we can make something more work."

He smiled at her, leaning down to press his lips to her brow. "Of course we can."

She nodded once. "Then we'll try."

* * *

**_Do you guys really need me to apologize? I'm so sorry this took so long. I've had a busy couple of weeks and I've been trying to nail down what I want to do with a few other stories so this one kind of fell by the wayside. I'll try and get the next chapter up by the weekend. I have to figure out what to do, so ideas are more than welcome._**

**_Any reviews are always welcome!_**


	10. Weighing In

Leila caught up with Piper at lunch on Monday, linking her arm with the brunette's. "So where were you on Saturday? I called and called and called but Phoebe said you weren't home."

Piper blushed bright red. It had been tempting to simply call Leila and tell her right away, but she didn't want to jump the gun. Phoebe knew – she'd practically jumped on Piper the second she returned home – and it didn't take long for Prue to find out, but Piper had made the executive decision to keep it quiet for now. She was definitely happy, Hannah had pointed that out when she'd seen Piper that morning, but she didn't want to jinx it by talking about it.

"I was out."

"Uh huh, and you expect me, your best friend, to take that at face value? Yeah right."

Leila was her best friend and Piper felt terrible at the notion of lying to her. "I was watching a movie."

Leila raised an eyebrow. "At Leo's." Leila knew she had her answer when Piper winced. "Ah ha! There's more to the story than you're letting on, isn't there?"

"Can't we just leave it?"

"Are you kidding me? You're finally talking to the guy, finally getting things back on track, hopefully still realizing you're head over heels for him and you expect me to drop this perfect chance to talk about it?"

Piper had to give her that. "There's nothing to tell."

Leila knew Piper better than that. "And I'm the president of the United States. Start talking, girl."

Piper sighed, but pulled Leila down a series of hallways until they hit the yearbook office, their old lunch place. She pulled her best friend inside, hoisting herself upon the desk.

Leila whistled. "This is serious."

"It could be," Piper admitted.

"And you're just telling me this now?"

"It's new!" Piper defended.

Leila's eyes sparkled. She knew how to get things out of Piper better than anyone else. Well, maybe except Grams. "And what exactly is this 'new thing'?"

Piper dropped her head down, chin to chest. "I… Well… I was over at Leo's on Friday, right? We do the weekly movie thing…"

"Cut to the chase, you're telling me stuff I already know," Leila whined.

"He… he might have kissed me?"

Leila's jaw dropped. "He might have what now?"

"Kissed me?" Piper repeated in a small voice. "And convinced me to see if we could make a relationship work?"

"He what now?"

Piper sighed. "I fell asleep in his bed, no big deal, we've done it before. I was exhausted. Well, we woke up this morning and he… he kissed me. And I was all confused because, I mean, why would he want to kiss me, right? But he did and then I was all confused and he was like 'well let's try a relationship' and I didn't know what to do and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You need to slow down and make sense," Leila said. "He kissed you and then asked you to date him? Exclusively?"

"I don't know?" Piper replied, running a hand through her hair. She took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts under control. "I guess so."

"Of course so!" Leila exclaimed. "This is _Leo_ we're talking about. He's not the type to just casually date a girl and there's no way he'd casually date you."

"Leila…"

"Oh no," the redhead interrupted. "You are not pulling the insecurity card on me now. Not a chance. Piper, you have the chance that so many girls before you would have taken without issue. Why are you questioning this?"

"How can you not be?" Piper replied. "Look at it from my perspective, okay? I'm a workaholic at the age of seventeen, I have maybe three true friends, I barely make time for my family let alone making time for a boyfriend."

"You're gorgeous, especially since your sisters got a hold of you, you're smart, you're aware, you know what you want and you go for it," Leila contradicted. "Heck, Piper, _I_ get jealous of you and I'm your best friend!"

"Jealous?" Piper asked blinking.

"Look, I'm not going to lie, you can be intimidating, but that's because you're everything so many people want to be and I'm not talking about your presidency. You're compassionate and fair, how else would you have solved the dispute between the science club and the trivia club when they wanted to use the same room at the same time? You've altered this school and you've only had the chance to do it for a year and a half."

"You're missing the point," Piper tried in exasperation.

Leila shook her head. "_You're _missing the point. I get that you have self-esteem issues, I knew that from the beginning, but you know Leo better than anyone except maybe Nick Trudeau. You know that he's doing this because he seriously likes you and not because he wants to just jump you."

Piper winced at the crude wording. "You think I'm being stupid?"

"I think you're being overly cautious," Leila replied. After all, if she, as Piper's best friend, couldn't tell the brunette the God's honest truth, who could?

"I'm scared," Piper said softly.

Leila sighed, hoisting herself up beside her best friend. "I get that, kind of. But you trust Leo, Piper. You know he's not going to do anything to hurt you, you know he wants you. You know you're his everything."

"I don't think I'd go that far," Piper said. Embarrassment was colouring her cheeks pink.

"Okay, but you get my point. This is a good thing," Leila said, trying to encourage her friend.

Piper smiled, the idea starting to settle in her, even if it was still mostly surreal. "This is a good thing," she agreed.

* * *

Nick leaned back in Leo's desk chair as the latter went about collecting his things for the one political science course they took together. Leo was humming some song under his breath, something Nick hadn't heard him do in a long time. It was the first sign that Leo was truly excited about something.

"Alright," Nick ordered. "Spill."

"Spill what?" Leo asked innocently as he checked his backpack for pencils and pens.

"Whatever has to _humming_. Dude, you're freaking humming."

Leo stopped for a moment, thinking. He was humming and it was all because of Piper. "No reason."

"Please," Nick scoffed. "You're easier to read than a children's book, what's got you on cloud nine?"

"I can't just be happy for the heck of it?" Leo replied continuing to pack his bag.

Nick picked up a framed picture of Leo and Piper, one taken by Leila the previous year. "It wouldn't have anything to do with this young lady, would it?"

Leo glanced at the picture Nick was holding and felt a grin creeping across his face no matter how hard he bit his cheek.

"So you finally buckled down and asked her out, huh? I'm glad."

"So to speak," Leo agreed.

"She didn't say 'yes'?"

"She did."

"But it took some persuading."

"It did."

"That girl is a martyr."

"But a beautiful one."

Nick smirked. "I always knew you were head over heels from her. From the day you met Piper Halliwell you were a gonner."

"Was not," Leo denied, even though he knew it was true. Piper had intrigued him from day one in the yearbook office. Then she'd worked with him on counsel and he'd been completely hooked.

"If that's what helps you sleep at night. I'm glad you guys finally decided to cut the tension." Nick cocked his head to the side. "What _did _make her change her mind?"

Leo blew out a breath. "It did take some convincing."

"I'll bet. God bless the girl, but self-esteem is something she really doesn't have," Nick agreed. He did love Piper dearly, but she had habits that often got on his nerves. "I'm glad she agreed."

Leo grinned widely, the happiness more than evident in every line of his body. "Me too."

* * *

**_This one came to me as I was writing my Criminal Minds story and I had to get it down! I'm writing different people evaluating relationships and I said to myself, I said self, I said self... What if Leila and Nick weighed in on this new development in Piper and Leo's relationship? And here we go!_**


	11. Under the Stars

Piper had no idea why she was nervous.

This was _Leo_ for Pete's sake, the guy who probably knew her, no _did_ know her better than anyone else, even her sisters. There were things Piper had told Leo that she'd never even think of mentioning to Prue or Phoebe. And that suited them all just fine.

They'd finally managed to find a time that worked for both of them. Leo had told her under no circumstances was she to worry about anything but looking pretty.

"Not that it's all that difficult for you," he'd teased, tapping her nose.

But Piper was stomach-churning, room-pacing, excruciatingly nervous.

It was their first real date.

Leo had taken to planning the whole thing, simply giving her a time he'd pick her up and a dress code. For once, Piper hadn't gone to Prue or Phoebe for help. She had the perfect black skirt and her favourite pink top to go with it. She knew it was flirty and pretty at the same time and she was comfortable in the clothes. She'd pinned half of her hair back in an old barette Grams had given her. It had been her mother's.

The ringing of the doorbell had her heart jumping uncomfortably into her throat. Piper was struck by the thought that the area must be bigger than she thought to fit her stomach and her heart, then laughed at herself for such an absurd idea as she made her way down the stairs.

Grams had opened the door for the young man and Piper had to admit, Leo certainly did clean up nicely. She smiled at the slightly stunned look on his face, not as funny as prom the previous year, but certainly funny enough to make her giggle.

"Remember Piper, not too late," Grams lectured. She didn't mind much. Piper was happy and she liked and trusted Leo with her granddaughter.

"I'll call," Piper promised as Grams retreated into the kitchen.

Leo took the opportunity to pull her close and kiss her thoroughly. "You look beautiful."

"You're sweet-talking me," she retorted.

"I'm simply being honest. Is it really that hard for you to take a compliment?" he teased, pinching her nose.

She wrinkled it back at him. "Where are we going?"

"Nuh uh, it's still a surprise," he told her.

"Then let's go! You've been keeping me in suspense for over a week. I want to know what has kept you so secretive."

"Then by all means, m'lady. Let's go."

* * *

"Wow."

Piper had expected a fancy dinner in a fancy restaurant, a kind of celebration acknowledging that they'd finally gotten to this point. Piper had had plenty of time to look back at her days since she'd met Leo and she had to admit to finally seeing what everyone had been telling her. This had been a long time coming.

She'd pestered him in the car after he'd slipped a blindfold over her eyes. She'd huffed, knowing she'd told him previously she was a chronic sign reader and it would spoil the surprise. Still, he hadn't given up a single thing. He had helped her carefully out of the car when they'd reached their designated destination and gently pulled the cloth from her eyes.

They were on a beach, lights of the Golden Gate Bridge sparkling against the multiple colours of the setting sun. It was beautiful, gorgeous and Piper wasn't sure she was breathing at that particular moment. She turned to find Leo and instead, found a blanket spread out on the sand and Leo sprawled out, watching her reaction. She blushed.

"This is fantastic," she praised, coming to sit on the blanket at his feet.

"Glad you think so," Leo responded, reaching for her hand.

Piper crawled across the blanket until she was snuggled against him. "How did you know of this place."

"Nick, believe it or not," he admitted. "And I know you love the sunset. And this is one of the best places to see the stars without too much of the city's light pollution."

"You've done your homework," Piper said.

"I did."

"I'm impressed."

"Then all of my life goals are met," he said with a wide smile. He'd hoped she'd like it. He had done his homework, gone to extensive lengths to find just the perfect place. "Dinner?"

"Please," she agreed, pleasure shining in her eyes. "I'm starving."

Leo unpacked the basket, spreading various things out over the blanket and presenting Piper with a plate and cutlery. He watched as she dug in greedily, smiling at how adorable she was. And how bloody beautiful. He wished he'd gotten off his ass before this and just flat out told her he wanted to date her. They probably could have skipped a whole lot of drama if he'd just been blunt with her.

Then again, she wasn't completely free of fault on that side either. She'd fought with him, argued with him about his choice of colleges. For a woman he considered very family oriented she certainly had skewed view of it when it came to debating between them and an ivy league college. He hadn't liked fighting with Piper one bit, though he'd been glad that they'd ironed everything out in the long run. And now they were together. There was nothing bad he could say about that. Nothing at all.

"What are you thinking about?" Piper asked as she licked tomato sauce off one of her fingers.

"You," he admitted easily. "How we got here."

"Oh?"

He laughed. "I've liked you for _forever_."

She pretended to look adorably surprised. "You mean, like, like?"

"I do," he answered still laughing. "I've wanted this for a long time."

"Why didn't you say something?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. If it was any other guy, Piper was sure she'd be absolutely petrified to ask a question like that. But it wasn't any other guy, this was Leo, her best friend.

"Because you were so shy. And you resisted terribly, you know." He knew she'd been clueless about the whole system, but that didn't make it any less amusing to tease her about it.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, slapping his stomach with her free hand.

"You are not," he replied, catching the wrist that was slapping him and gently pulling her down to kiss her. It was still very much a surreal experience, to be able to kiss her just because he wanted to.

They ate and joked together and Piper helped him back everything back into the basket before spreading out on her back to look up at the starry sky. "This is beautiful, you know. The stars I mean."

"It's been a long time since I've been out stargazing," he admitted, settling in beside her, linking their fingers.

"Me too," Piper replied. "We used to go camping every year and Prue, Phoebe and I would sit out and watch the stars until we fell asleep. It was great."

"You guys are so close."

"We are. And I'm glad we are. I don't know what I'd do without my sisters some days."

"You're lucky."

"You've got Nick. He's as good as your brother."

That much was true. Nick had played his surrogate brother for years and Leo had to admit, it was almost a better arrangement. He didn't have to live with the guy if he got frustrated with him. But both had been there for each other for a lot of difficult or frustrating moments in their lives and Leo was glad to have him. "True."

Piper rolled into him, snuggling into the warmth he provided. She chuckled slightly when he unfolded a blanket to throw over them both. "Good planning."

"It gets cold out here at night," he defended. "And body heat's only so good."

She still grinned as she tilted her head up for a kiss he willingly bestowed on her mouth. She settled down against him, unable to wipe the smile off of her face. "You know, I think you've planned the perfect night."

Leo pulled her closer, his grin matching hers. "I'm glad. And of course it's perfect. You're here."

She slapped him again. "You're corney."

"And yet you like me."

She raised herself up, one hand balancing her, the other resting on his chest. "I do," she agreed seriously.

He pulled her down to kiss her.

* * *

**_I have no idea how I did this. I was all out of insipiration on what to do with this and then I sat down and look what happened! Maybe I was just in a seriously fluffy mood. Most of my current stories aren't fluffy at the moment. They're pretty angsty actually. Maybe that's why I couldn't do any work today. I needed to write fluff!_**

**_And to think, I originally wasn't going to write their date chapter. Usually I hate writing them._**

**_Review if you're still with me!_**


	12. Effect of Stress and Time

Piper liked to believe she was a realist. She liked to believe that she could step back from even the most emotional of situations to make a decision that benefited everyone as best as possible. In this situation, however, it was impossible.

Three months. They had been dating for three, intense months. They'd managed to make it work flawlessly until February. Piper hated February and had since the previous year. Not only did it hold Valentine's Day, a day she abhorred above all else, but it was the worst month of her year. Stress piled upon stress until she all but buckled. And it was the same for Leo. Which is how it had come to this point.

Piper clutched the phone until her knuckles went white, trying to hold back her tears. "I don't want to do this."

Leo sighed on the other end. "Neither do I, honey. But we agree that it's not fair to either of us. It's too hard."

"This is harder."

"I wish there was another way."

Piper nodded, even though she knew Leo couldn't see her. "Me too."

"And it's not like we're going to cut off all ties," he promised. "We've got e-mails, phone calls, and there's no way we're stopping those bi-weekly movie nights if we can."

She sniffled, trying to hold back her tears just a little bit longer. This was hard enough for her, she didn't want to put more pressure on him by breaking down over the phone. _Just five more minutes_.

"I'll call you later, okay?"

Piper took a deep breath. "Okay," she agreed. "Bye."

"Talk to you later."

The tears came in waves when she hung up the phone, shaking her entire body with the strength of her sobs. She knew deep down that they'd made the right choice, that it hadn't been fair with their busy schedules. It was putting too much strain on both of them to keep their relationship going when most contact had dwindled to a phone call every once in a while.

Phoebe raced into her room, hearing the sobs from down the hall. "Oh, Piper! What happened?"

"We broke up," Piper managed to whisper, her eyes closing against the way Phoebe stroked her long hair out of her face. "We broke up."

"But… Why?"

"It's too hard," Piper replied, choking on a sob. "We haven't seen each other in a month, we've talked, really talked, maybe once in that time. It's just too stressful."

"Oh, Piper," Phoebe whispered.

Piper continued to sob, even as Phoebe held on tight.

* * *

Piper never missed school. Leila knew this. Piper Halliwell never, ever missed school. Leila could remember days when Piper had been all but passing out and yet, the girl dragged herself through the front doors because that was just what Piper did. So when she didn't show up that morning, Leila had gotten worried.

"Phoebe!"

The youngest Halliwell turned apprehensively, relaxing slightly when she realized it was just Leila. "Hi."

"Where's Piper?"

"At home," Phoebe answered vaguely. "She wasn't feeling well."

Leila reigned in her temper, well aware that it came from fear. "What's going on?"

Phoebe glanced around the halls, checking to see who was around them. "Leo."

"Is he okay?" Leila asked, dropping her voice, understanding this was something Piper wouldn't want broadcast over the school.

"He's fine. They… um…"

Leila's eyes opened wide. It didn't take a genius to put together what Phoebe was trying to tell her. "No," she breathed.

Phoebe nodded solemnly. "Yesterday."

Leila blew out a breath. "You know what that means?"

Phoebe nodded her head again. "I'll call Prue when class lets out."

"I'll let Hannah know. We'll bring movies."

"Grams'll cook."

"Usual rules?"

"No bashing, no mean names, lots of hugs and comfort food. I remember."

It wasn't the first time Leila had been involved in a Halliwell sobfest. Prue's break up with Andy had been traumatizing for the first few days, even though it had been a mutual decision. "Good."

"We'll leave the door unlocked," Phoebe said quietly. "She's going to be _pissed_."

Leila smiled grimly. "She's going to have to suck it up. Thanks Phoebe." Then she was off, on a mission. It wasn't actually difficult to find Hannah, for there were very few places the vice president hung out. What frustrated her was Matt was right beside her. Did the boy give up? Leila doubted it. The student government office was rarely closed so Leila stepped in. "Hannah, got a minute?"

"For you, always."

Leila deliberately looked at Matt. "It's private."

The spark that lit Hannah's eyes told Leila the other girl had an idea of what it was about. She left all of her things on the desk all three executive members shared and moved with Leila off down the hall. "Is she okay?"

"No," Leila answered. "She's not going to be here today."

"I gathered that," Hannah agreed with a nod. "So?"

"You and I are in charge of movies. Ever been to a Halliwell Sobfest?"

Hannah shook her head with a small, sad smile.

"You're about to be initiated."

* * *

Nick was worried. Leo hadn't shown his face outside of classes for three days now. In fact, the only time he'd even glimpsed the other man was the times Leo left for class and give or take in their shared bathroom. Otherwise, it was as if Leo had dropped off the face of the planet. So it was with determination that Nick knocked on Leo's door.

"Go away."

"No way, man. Open up."

"Nick, go away. I'm working."

"You're wallowing like a girl." If there was one person Nick knew, it was Leo. And Nick knew Leo didn't much appreciate being insulted when he was already down.

"You know what-"

All Nick needed was enough room to get his foot through the door and Leo had given him more than that. With a quick shove, Nick was in the room, the door closed again. "Man, you look terrible."

"Thanks," Leo groused, glaring.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What did Piper do?"

"It wasn't just her, okay? We decided it wasn't going to work."

"You what?"

Leo rolled his eyes, annoyed. "We decided it wasn't going to work out. We're too busy. It's not fair to either of us."

"But you're in love with her," Nick said, confused.

"It's just not working right now. We've both got really busy schedules… I haven't seen her in a month."

"So it's a rocky patch. Doesn't mean you break up with the girl."

"She agreed!" Leo exclaimed indignantly.

"Uh huh, and how long did it take you to convince her to try in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter, Nick," Leo said with a sigh. "It's done."

Nick didn't know what to say to that. Leo looked so dejected and heartbroken. "Have you talked to her?"

"Not since. I…. I can't."

"Dude, you've got to get out of this room," Nick said, changing the subject. "We're going to work out later. Come. Get out of here for a bit. It'll be good for you."

"I have a midterm on Friday, another one Monday and three lab reports due next week-"

"And you can take an hour out of working to get some exercise in," Nick interrupted. "Come on."

* * *

_**I know this isn't the best I've written and I know that it's been, like, four months since I wrote something for this story. I know that other stories is a terrible excuse and I know I should be focusing on writing for these, especially since I know exactly how to go about ending it. So all I can say is that I'm so sorry. I'm going to go write the next chapter now since it's going to set up some good times for Leo and Piper instead of this sad depressingness that is this chapter. I hated writing it, if you couldn't tell by the crap writing. I hate writing Leo and Piper apart.**_

_**Please review. Pretty pretty pretty please.**_


	13. Unfortunate Circumstances

Piper was a walking ghost. She did things as she was supposed to in the same overachieving manner she always had, but she was a ghost. There was nothing any of her friends could do to get her to do anything social. She smiled when she had to, played nice when she had to, but she wasn't the same spunky Piper everyone knew and loved. She wasn't Leo's Piper, in any sense of the word.

Her sisters constantly checked up on her throughout the day. Prue would bring lunch just for an excuse to sit with her. Phoebe wandered by the student government office during Piper's spare to make sure her sister was there. Leila walked home with Piper even though it was out of her way. Hannah kept an eye on her when she could. Between the four of them and Grams, they made sure she ate, slept, and didn't run herself ragged.

But Piper was dying. It was taking her longer than she'd liked to get rid of her funk. She hated being down. Angry was one thing, depressed was another. Hadn't she known it wasn't going to work between them? Hadn't she known that their busy schedules were going to rip them apart? It was only a matter of time before her predictions would come true. At least she'd seen it coming.

"Mrs Windham?"

Piper looked up as the PA came on. Her brow wrinkled, as it always did.

"Yes?"

"Can you send Piper Halliwell to the office please?"

Piper rolled her eyes as she packed up her things. What did they want now? It was Matt's job to get the contract nailed down for prom, not hers. Her interest piqued when she saw Phoebe coming down the hall towards the office at the same time. "Do you-?"

"Not a clue," Phoebe answered as they stepped through the door.

Andy was there, and that confused them more. "Andy?"

"It's Grams," he said quietly. "She's in the hospital."

* * *

Piper was in such a fog. Andy had driven her and Phoebe to the hospital. Prue had been pacing a hole in the emergency room floor waiting to hear. She did manage to tell them what had happened. Grams had suffered a heart attack.

It shattered Piper. Grams was invincible, or it certainly felt like she was. Grams hadn't been sick in years. Grams had been their only family besides each other since their mother had passed. Grams had helped each and every one of them through so many different things that to think of her in the hospital just broke every view Piper had of her grandmother.

"Penny Halliwell?"

Prue raced up, followed closely by Phoebe and Piper. "Is she okay?"

"She's stable for now," the doctor said. "Are you family?"

"The only one she's got," Phoebe answered stubbornly.

"We're her granddaughters," Prue answered shortly.

"Seems like Miss Halliwell did suffer a heart attack," the doctor said. "We're going to keep her overnight and do some tests. We'll see how she is in the morning."

"Can we see her?" Phoebe asked.

"Sure you can," the doctor agreed. "I'll walk you to her room."

* * *

She had to get out of there. She couldn't just sit and wait. She couldn't stay there and watch Grams in a hospital bed.

She had to leave.

Piper hated the rain, or more specifically, she hated how it reflected her mood. It was hard enough for her to see through her tears let alone the violent sheets of water running down the windshield. How she made it to the university and found a parking spot safely, she'd never know, nor did she really remember how she managed to make it through the rain and up to Leo's room. What she did know was that he looked utterly shocked to see her.

"Piper, what happened?"

She took a deep shuddering breath, trying to keep her tears at bay. "Grams."

Leo pulled her inside and close, not needing to hear anything else. If it was Grams and she was here, there was no way whatever was on her mind was good.

"Leo?"

Piper stiffened against his chest. She hadn't known there was anyone else there. She felt Leo pick her up and carry her to the bathroom.

"Have a warm shower before you catch a cold," he ordered gently. "I'll bring you a towel and some clothes." He closed the bathroom door behind him and faced his friends. Piper had interrupted a study session, but she had to take priority. "Can we postpone this?" he asked with an apologetic smile.

"Who is she?" Brittany asked, starting to pack up her notes and books. "I don't think I've seen you drop school for anything like this."

Nick grinned. He'd always known going to the same school as Leo would come in handy for something. "That's Piper."

Kurt nodded, exchanging a significant look with Nick. "The Piper. The one you've been e-mailing, the one that was over so often last semester. I think for that we can postpone. Tell her I hope she feels better."

Leo smiled his thanks as he held the door for them. Nick was the last one out and paused. "Tell her I'm sorry. And keep your head on straight. You were hell when you guys decided to break up."

"I'll be careful," Leo promised with a nod.

"Not careful, smart. Look, I know you. You think everything happens for a reason. As sucky as it is that there's something wrong with her grandmother, there's got to be a reason it happened and a reason she came here. You know how close she is to her sisters."

Leo narrowed his eyes, a vague notion of what Nick was talking about going through his head. He nodded anyway, wanting to get back to check on Piper.

He made sure to lock the door before searching out a clean towel, t-shirt and sweats. He knocked on the bathroom door, happy to hear the shower running. The happiness was short-lived, however, when he didn't get an answer to his knock. Carefully, he pushed open the door. "Piper?"

He started to panic when he continued to get no response. As a last ditch effort, he stepped into the bathroom, pulling open the curtain to find the brunette curled in a ball against the back of the bathtub. He sighed and unfolded the towel.

"Piper, honey, come on." Leo valiantly kept his eyes on her face as he helped her out of the bathtub and bundled her into the towel. Her eyes were red-rimmed and pain-filled and Leo knew she'd been crying while in there.

Piper burrowed into Leo's chest before he could dry her and left Leo no choice but to wrap his arms around her and just hold her. He tucked her head under his chin murmuring whatever came to mind when he felt her hot tears soak his neck and shirt. Her knees buckled and Leo was lucky to be close enough to scoop her up and carry her to where he could sit. He maneuvered Piper carefully when he sat on the bed, sighing mentally when she curled further into him, fisting one hand in his shirt.

Leo could do nothing but rock her and whisper that everything, eventually, would be okay. When he felt her breath even out, he looked down at her, smiling gently when he realized Piper had fallen asleep.

"Okay," he whispered, moving slowly so as not to wake her. "We'll talk about this in the morning." It took some careful skill, but Leo managed to get Piper into one of his t-shirts before tucking her snugly into bed and settling down beside her.

Everything else would have to wait until morning.

* * *

_**Shorter than the last one, but posted the day after. Does that work? Now that I'm back on track we'll see what happens with the updates.**_


	14. Her Best Support

Leo was glad he woke before Piper. There were a few errands he had to run and a few calls he had to make. Scrawling her a quick note - though sure she wouldn't wake for at least another hour or two - Leo dressed and headed out to find them breakfast. He called Prue on the way.

"Hello?"

"Prue, it's Leo." He kept his voice gentle, just like he had with Piper.

"Is Piper there with you?"

Leo smiled, unsurprised that Piper was one of her top concerns. "She's sleeping in my room. She's okay."

Prue sighed. "Thanks for calling."

After debating with himself for a moment, Leo asked, "Do you know anything?"

"Grams had a heart attack," Prue said softly. "I've known for ages she wasn't doing so good, but she's Grams."

"I know," he said. "I'll keep an eye on Piper, bring her home later. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"Taking care of Piper is more than enough. We'll let you know though, thanks Leo."

He sighed as he hung up. As he'd gotten to know Piper he'd spent more and more time at the Halliwell Manor and could remember a number of excellent conversations with the Halliwell matriarch. She always seemed invincible to him, like nothing could ever hurt her. The fact that he assumed she was now in the hospital, and knowing that Piper had no one but her sisters after that, tore at his heartstrings. But Piper needed him to be strong.

She looked calm and peaceful, still asleep when he entered half an hour later with simple bagels and juice. Piper didn't drink coffee, well aware that in high school it would only screw her over for her university and later life.

It had taken him months to get back on track after ending it with her. Their first contact had been hers, reaching out to him with inconsequential things. She didn't sound like the Piper he loved, but he knew there was nothing they could actually do about that. There was nothing he could do about that. They weren't in the right places or times in their lives to make a relationship work and they'd proven that.

So why, with her grandmother in the hospital, had he been her first choice?

That was a no-brainer and he knew it. He knew exactly why Piper had been his first choice and cursed himself for allowing their relationship to pull apart. It hadn't been what he wanted at all, but he hadn't expected it to be as difficult to think of her as it had been. Their e-mails, once they'd started again, had been superficial at best and nothing like the conversations they'd had time and time again about the most useless of debates. He wasn't sure what to think, wasn't sure what to do. All he knew, was that Piper needed him.

And when Piper needed him, he'd be there for her.

He climbed back onto his bed, pulling her into his arms, the same way she had been the night before. He hated seeing her broken. He'd been through his fair share of Piper's emotions over their years of friendship and their brief months in their relationship. But more than that, he'd missed her. Sure, he wasn't about to be selfish now, but he wanted to be back in her life, the same way he'd been part of her life before they'd tried a relationship. The relationship was only the ideal.

He looked down as she shifted and groaned, curling into his warmth. He just held on, waiting for her to open her eyes, to realize what was going on around her. It took time.

"Leo?"

"It's me," he replied, kissing her forehead sweetly. "How are you feeling?"

"What happened?" she asked, closing her eyes again. "I think I just had a nightmare."

He didn't want to tell her that no, it hadn't been a nightmare at all. But he knew it would hurt less. "I don't think it was a nightmare, sweetheart."

Piper looked at him, squinting with the light coming in from the thin blinds. "We did break up? Grams is in the hospital?"

The tears came again in full force and Leo just held on, unsure of what else he could really do. It was only when Piper had cried herself out again that he spoke. "I'm sorry, Piper. I wish I could tell you something different."

"I have to call Prue," Piper said, her voice starting to become frantic. "I have to know how Grams is, if they know anything. I-"

"Piper, Piper, breathe," Leo said, wrapping his arms tighter around her body. "I called Prue this morning, let her know where you were. They're just waiting for test results on Grams, there's nothing you can do."

"Nothing I can do? I can bring Grams clothes, her pyjamas, and someone's going to have to cook for Phoebe…"

"Piper, you're only seventeen," Leo said, countering her struggling with his strength. "You and I are going to spend today here, watching movies, doing nothing. Then we're going to go to visit Grams during visiting hours and I'm going to take you home and sleep on the couch."

"I have to go to school and I have homework to do and-"

"And you can't do that now. One thing at a time, Piper. You're not Superwoman."

"I can't do nothing," Piper whispered, curling herself into his chest again. "I can't do nothing."

Leo sighed. "Let's start with breakfast, okay? We can decide from there."

* * *

**_Short, I know, but it was the best place to cut it off, really. _**

**_I'm not sure when the next one will be up, or how exactly I want to do it. This could have anywhere from, like, 5 to 2 chapters left, I haven't decided yet. _**


	15. Tension

The end of her senior year had snuck up on Piper faster than she'd liked. It seemed like it was only yesterday she was in tears over Grams' heart attack, but her grandmother was now back in Halliwell Manor almost the same as she'd been before the whole ordeal. Meanwhile, Piper had managed to juggle her way through finals, working with Matt and the prom committee to pull off a wicked event and a new quasi-relationship with Leo.

It was the latter that kept her up at night, metaphorically speaking. She found herself drifting off at the oddest times, her mind taking her to the land of daydreams. The tension between them continued to grow and the time they spent together continued to grow. It seemed like the whole ordeal with Grams had done only good things for Piper, Leo and their relationship. Nevertheless, it had come to a head almost a month prior.

_Movies were normal in their new relationship. More often than not, she made the trek to his place, even if he tried to insist he wanted to come to the Manor. So, once again, she'd made her way to his place and once again, he'd forced her to pick the movie they were going to watch._

"_Leo, you know I don't make decisions," Piper almost whined._

"_This from the president of the student council? Are you sure you're doing the right job?" Leo quipped back, coming up behind her and resting his hands on her shoulders. "Come on, Piper."_

"_I don't make decisions!" she exclaimed again, throwing her hands up and now trying to focus on the movie cases in front of her instead of his warm hands. It had been happening more and more often, this heat that was curling in her stomach. She recognized it for what it was, that same attraction that had drawn them together to begin with. It had been rearing it's ugly head more and more recently and Piper was hard pressed to continue resisting it. _

"_You're going to have to."_

_She spun to face him, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but she hadn't realized how close he really was. She wasn't sure, after that, who had kissed whom first. What she did know was it was familiar and oh-so-right. Eventually, they pulled away, Piper now pressed right against him, her arms around his neck, fingers threading through his hair. He had one hand up the back of her shirt on her skin, the other cupping the side of her neck. Calmly, pressing her lips together, she stepped away and turned back to the movies, selecting her favourite. _

They hadn't talked about that moment, hadn't talked about that night. Piper didn't know what to do, Leila didn't know what to do and Hannah didn't know what to do. Prue and Phoebe had both encouraged her to talk to him about it, to figure out if it was a one-time thing or if those feelings that had existed before Grams' heart attack were still there. Piper never had the courage. With a sigh she stood as a knock sounded at the door. She'd finally relented and agreed that Leo could come over to the Manor for both dinner and a movie. Grams knew he would be staying over. It was just easier that way.

"Hey," she greeted opening the door to allow Leo entrance.

"Hello," he greeted with a wide smile. He held up three movies. "I did the hard work."

She laughed. "So you have. Grams says dinner will be shortly. Prue and Andy are here."

"Nick mentioned they'd gotten back together."

Piper nodded. "I think it was the heart attack," she said in a low voice. "It freaked Prue out."

"Rightly so. Scared me too. I always thought Grams was invincible."

She blushed at the smile he sent her. "Come on. Grams will want to say hi."

Sure enough, Grams wanted to say hi. And ask about his school. And whether or not he had a girlfriend. And about what he did in his spare time. Piper almost laughed as Leo sat patiently through all of the questions including the ones about his relationship status. She'd tried not to look like she was listening for those. Soon enough, Prue walked through the door and chaos erupted on the main floor of the Halliwell Manor.

So, hours later, when Piper and Leo collapsed on the couch in the living room. "I forgot how crazy things can be here."

"You have?" Leo asked. "Why?"

"I'm always at school," Piper said with a laugh. "Between prom and transitioning the new president plus finals… I'm usually home late and re-heating dinner."

He sighed. "Same old Piper."

"Old habits die hard," she replied blushing. "I can't help it."

"One day, you're going to run yourself into the ground. Again."

"Hey!" she protested. "I like to believe I balanced things a lot better this year than I did last year."

He chuckled. "That is probably true. I haven't heard of a complete mental breakdown, and I have my spies, Miss Halliwell."

"You do not!" Piper exclaimed, whacking his shoulder.

"Ow!"

This was the relationship Piper adored. It was just easy with him. Easy to joke, easy to tease, easy to be herself. He had been the person to really bring out the Piper she'd allowed to be buried and fade into the background. Between him and Nick, Piper had become a different person and she knew it. It was subconscious for her to snuggle up to him after goading and guilt-tripping him into putting it in and starting it up to begin with. They watched the movie in silence, odd for the two of them, but with full stomachs and comfortable cushions it didn't really surprise Piper that Leo fell asleep. She looked at him, ignoring the rest of the movie, a soft, affectionate smile on her face.

"I love you, Leo," she said softly, stroking his head. Her eyes widened when the words had slipped out of her mouth, surprised not only at the ease with which they'd come out, but at how right it had felt. She hadn't expected them to come out at all. She was seventeen, did she really know what love was?

She'd heard Prue describe it once, knowing that her sister was head-over-heels for Andy.

"_Love is… fantastic. It's when you just feel right when you're around that person. It's complicated and simple at the same time, glorious and painful. It's when you can't stand to be without that person, when you're accepted for who you are. That person just knows you, has an uncanny ability to know when something's wrong and the best or most effective way to fix it."_

Piper considered each of her sister's conditions and realized that Leo fit them. The emotions that welled up inside her when she was by Leo were completely different than the emotions she felt when she was with anyone else. She missed him terribly, more so since Grams' stay in the hospital and he'd done more than accepted her for who she was, he'd all but made who she was. He did know the best way to fix her worst problems. She couldn't think of anyone else she'd have gone to when Grams was in the hospital to begin with.

She smiled, her fingers still ghosting through his hair. "I love you."

* * *

_**I figured it out. 2 more chapters after this and we're going to have to bid this story farewell!**_


	16. Once and For All

Leo had been awake.

Piper had said 'I love you' and he'd been awake.

But she'd thought he was asleep.

And so he'd continued to pretend to be asleep, forcing himself to keep his breathing even despite the emotions swelling in his heart. He'd been reluctant to push her into the relationship he still definitely wanted because he didn't want to put her through that pain and agony again. He didn't want to be that kind of person, regardless of how much he wanted her.

Now, however, her confession changed things.

He unlocked his dorm room door with a massive grin on his face, unable to get his mind off of her sweet voice telling him how important he was to her. He looked up when noise met his ears and he realized there was someone in his room.

"Oh, you're back. And you are sporting one heck of a grin, man."

Leo couldn't wipe it off, even when Nick's face blossomed into a teasing, almost lecherous grin. "I had a good night."

"Oh?"

"Nothing like that, man," Leo contradicted, throwing the closest small object that wouldn't do that much damage. "You know me better than that. And you know I wouldn't treat Piper like that."

"Then what happened?" Nick asked, turning his attention completely on his friend.

"She told me she loved me."

Nick's eyes widened. "She did what?"

Leo knew why his friend was so surprised. Piper played everything close to the vest and she was incredibly careful with her emotions. "She told me she loved me."

"What did you say?"

"I didn't," Leo replied. "She thought I was asleep, so I stayed that way."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "So what are you going to do?"

Leo felt a small grin slowly creep across his face. "You are going to help me plan the most romantic response."

Nick mirrored his friend's grin. "Now that I can definitely do."

* * *

"You look…. Relaxed."

Piper smiled as Leila met up with her as she wandered into school. "Surprisingly… yes."

"Um… why?"

"Why am I relaxed or why am I surprised?"

Leila wrinkled her brow. "Both?"

Piper bit her lip. "I, um… I told Leo I loved him last night."

"Finally!" Leila exclaimed. "And?"

"And what?" Piper asked in confusion.

"What happened afterwards?"

"Nothing," Piper replied. "He was asleep when I told him."

Leila's eyebrows went up. "You told him you loved him and he was asleep when you did? Why did you tell him then?"

"Leila! I just figured it out when it came tumbling out!"

"Tumbling out? What the heck happened?"

"What happened where? When?" Hannah fell into step on Piper's other side.

"Piper told Leo she loved him," Leila replied. "Reader's Digest version."

"Did you really? That's awesome! What did he say?"

"Nothing," Leila answered. "Apparently she did it when he was asleep."

"What? Why?"

"Because I just figured it out!" Piper exclaimed. "You guys are not helping here."

"Well, you're just going to have to tell him while he's awake," Hannah said with a shrug. "Done."

"We're not even together," Piper lamented. "I can't tell him things like that when we're not even dating."

"Yeah well, that's no fault of any of ours," Hannah replied. "You guys were the ones that called it quits. We wondered why you even bothered."

"Because it wasn't fair to either of us." She felt like she was explaining this for the hundredth, no millionth time. "Neither of us had the time to see the other, neither of us could carve five minutes out of our days to talk on the phone, let alone actually see each other. It was the most logical choice at the time."

"And now? Now you guys spend as much time together as you did when you were dating," Leila pointed out. "So now what?"

Piper was blushing. She hadn't told Leila or Hannah about the kiss, about the time she'd virtually jumped Leo in his dorm room.

"Oh ho ho! What happened?"

"Nothing," Piper replied, focusing ahead of her. If she didn't look at them, they wouldn't be able to read her expression, read her eyes.

"I do not believe you!" Leila exclaimed grabbing onto Piper's arm. "What happened, Piper. It's us, come on!"

Piper rolled her eyes at her best friend's whining. "It's nothing, I promise."

"Not with the way you were blushing," Hannah replied. "Curse of the blush, Piper."

Piper sighed. "I may have… kissed him…. A few weeks ago."

"What!?" Leila exclaimed.

"Whoa! Loud much?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Piper, come on. What kind of a reaction did you expect to get? You guys aren't dating, you told him you loved him while he slept… Remind me again why you guys aren't dating?"

"Because… Just because."

"Excellent reasoning, Piper," Hannah said seriously.

"Don't mock me," Piper pleaded. "It just… It was hard the first time. I don't think either of us wants to go through it again."

"Wasn't it you who said if you want big rewards you've got to take big risks?" Leila asked in confusion. "Isn't this a big enough reward, knowing Leo's in love with you?"

"It's not that easy!"

Leila grabbed her best friend's arm, turning Piper to face her. "It is that easy Piper. It's you and Leo who aren't making it easy. You guys want to make it more and more complicated. You could have dated at the end of his senior year, but you made it all about what college he was going to. You could have started dating over the summer, but you were too busy holding a grudge because he wanted to go to a college near you. You didn't have to break it off in February, but you did because you thought it was the time you put into it that mattered and not necessarily the feelings between you and now you guys are taking your bloody sweet time getting back together."

Piper blinked. She didn't expect that from Leila.

Leila nodded once. "So here's how this is going to work. You're going to set up a time to meet him and you're going to tell him you're in love with him and we're going to stop this dancing once and for all."

* * *

**_One more chapter after this and we're done. So Chapter 17 is the last chapter. That's ironic._**


	17. In the Middle of a Storm

Leo sighed as he looked out of his dorm room window. It was raining. Pouring rain in San Francisco. And it had ruined everything. Absolutely positively everything. He had that perfect date planned, a dinner he was going to cook at home for her then a walk along the beach, almost like their very first date. But Mother Nature had other ideas and he hadn't wanted to cancel their plans. So she was on her way, by his calculations, and he either had to do some quick thinking, or he'd have to postpone his declaration of love.

And he didn't like the idea of postponing his feelings. They'd waited long enough to get to this point, had been through so much in the last year, and more before that. Her own declaration of love had changed a lot in his life and even all of his friends had commented on how happy he'd been in the last little while. And it was all Piper that had done it.

He tried to put a smile on his face as the knock sounded at his door.

"it's raining cats and dogs out there," Piper exclaimed as she slipped through his door and shed her coat. "Absolutely pouring. Have you been outside today?"

Leo nodded. "Classes."

"Right," Piper said with a grin, "Sorry. Sometimes I forget that you have class every day."

"Unfortunate part of pre-med."

Her head tilted to the side. "Are you okay?"

He sighed. "It's been a long day."

"I'm sorry," she replied, her lips tilting downward. "Do you want me to go home?"

"No." He sighed when she laughed at hot quickly he'd answered. "I'm sorry, I'm trying."

"Hey," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't have to try."

"I had plans for us tonight," he admitted finally.

She arched an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"it's raining."

"It's raining. That's your problem? It's raining?"

"You make it sound so trivial."

Piper shook her head affectionately. "Leo, it is trivial. It's Mother Nature, we have no control."

He blew out a breath. "I hate the rain."

"How can you hate the rain?" Piper asked, moving to his window to lean out and just watch.

Leo had known Piper liked the rain. In fact, she loved the rain. She loved watching it fall outside the window creating rivers into the drainage system. She'd always loved the rain as far as he knew. "Because it's wet and yucky."

"When did you become four?" she teased. "Yucky?"

"Rain makes everything so muddy. And it's always muddy for days after the rain."

Piper rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then trust me now. Come on." She led him down the stairs, grabbing his keys on the way, and out of the building.

"Piper, come on we're not-"

But she'd already dragged him out into the downpour. She laughed as she ran out into it, soaking herself to the bone, her clothes clinging. "Come on, Leo!"

He looked at her, shaking his head affectionately. "No."

"Why not!? Come on, Leo, it's just water! Clothes will dry."

"Piper, what are you doing?"

"I'm dancing in the rain!"

That got him into the downpour, racing out to her and wrapping an arm around her as he swept her into his arms. Piper laughed as he swung her in circles, holding one hand as he waltzed her through the rain. He wasn't really paying attention to it, just focused on her, on the woman in his arms and the feeling of having her there. Eventually, they slowed them down, until they were just standing there, his eyes fixed on hers.

Piper knew something was up. She could tell by the intense look in his eyes. "What is it?"

He let go of her hand, bringing his up to cup her cheek. "I love you."

Piper stopped moving completely, standing still, her mouth open slightly. "What?"

"I love you. I love that you love the rain, I love that you can drag me out into a downpour. I love how you stress, and that cute little wrinkle you get between your eyebrows when you're feeling overwhelmed. I love your quirky family, your Grams. I love you, Piper."

"But, I-" She shook her head. "I don't understand."

He chuckled. "You don't understand that I love you?"

She shook her head again. "I don't understand why you're telling me."

"Because you love me too." His thumb stroked over her cheek. "Can you tell me otherwise?"

Piper stood stunned for another minute. "How did you know?"

"I was awake," he said, stepping closer, pulling her much smaller body closer to his. "Weeks ago, when you told me, I was awake."

Piper stood stunned. "But you- You didn't say anything."

"You'd just figured it out yourself. I didn't want to put you on the spot."

"Because you haven't done it now?" Her voice was starting to sound slightly panicked. "Leo, I-"

"I'm not going to ask you to say it again, sweetheart, not until you're ready," he promised. "I just… I needed you to know that. I need you to know that I love you."

Piper's mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to make sense of what was going on around her. Leo loved her, he'd told her he loved her. And she knew she loved him. "I love you too."

"Piper-"

"I do," she said, stronger this time, gripping his shirt in her hands. "I love you, Leo Wyatt."

And with a huge grin, Leo swept her into his arms and kissed her. He put everything he could feel into the kiss, and tasted only rain and Piper. He had no idea where this was going to go, no idea what they could face, but he did know he loved her. And he knew she loved him. Everything else… well, he could deal with everything else so long as she was beside him.


End file.
